Wesker's Daughter
by Sesshy'sGirlLOL01
Summary: As Claire sat bored on the plane she noticed a girl about five sitting on her own and felt compelled to go and say something. No little girl should be left alone on a plane. Pairings: ChrisXJill, WeskerXClaire .
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't know where this idea came into my mind it just did and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it… so anyway… I hope you enjoy :)

Pairings: ChrisXJill with hints of ClaireXLeon and ClaireXWesker if you squint.

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil nor am I making a profit from this.

Wesker's Daughter

Claire sighed as she sat on the plane which was taking them to L.A. where they would be taking a small vacation, yes, she didn't know how she had managed it but she had finally managed to convince Chris and Leon to go on a vacation. Chris oddly enough was fairly simple to convince once she had told Jill about her idea for them to all go on a holiday, Jill had instantly agreed and had done the convincing of Chris for her. Oh how she liked Jill!

Leon… well he had been more difficult to convince… mainly because he wouldn't answer his phone when she called him, something which she found extremely scary given that he always answered the thing.

Anyway after several failed attempts at reaching him she had decided to leave him a message on his voice box which pretty much stated that if he didn't respond to her calls she would come down on him like a ton of bricks in the way that would make a Tyrant look like a girl scout. Almost five minutes later she received a call from him.

She had explained to him that she wanted them to go on a vacation just to spend some time away from thoughts of zombies and Umbrella and the other companies. He had said 'Fine but not Spain.' Of course this had led her to asking what was wrong with Spain which led to him explaining just WHAT was wrong with it… needless to say she crossed that place off her 'list of potential holiday resorts'.

In the end she had chosen L.A. after reading about a hotel that had full day spars, massages and just about every other thing one could think of to help relax.

She let out another sigh and looked at Leon who, to her amazement, was asleep… then again she couldn't really blame him considering the in-flight movie, she looked up at the screen the movie was one of those romance movies that had absolutely no conflict and was just people spouting sonnets of love for three hours. Now don't get her wrong she enjoyed a good romance film every now and then but there was a line and this had well and truly crossed it.

She sighed for a third time and decided that looking around the plane was probably more interesting than the movie. 'How many cheese puffs can that man put in his mouth at once?' She thought as she watched a man scoff down his food.

'That poor woman…' she thought as she looked at the tall and far too skinny woman sitting beside him, she looked as though she was being squished into the window.

"Darling could you please move over an inch or two?" the thin lady spoke to the large man.

Claire paled. 'Darling!? I didn't want that image!' she inwardly whined trying not to think about the images. 'Think about something else… think about something else.' Her eyes darted across the plane. 'Chris and Jill look cozy' She mused as she saw Jill lean against Chris while they discussed something, she personally didn't want to eavesdrop.

'Hey… is that little girl by herself?' she thought concerned as she saw a little girl probably about five sitting on the window seat to the right across from her.

The girl was of pale complexion though the small hint of a tan showed that she did spend time outside. Claire couldn't see the girls eyes but she was fairly sure they were either green or blue given her golden blonde hair which is tied back in a plat. She is wearing simple white sundress with some white shoes, in her arms is a teddy bear and in the chair beside her is her luggage bag.

'She has to have a parent around here somewhere… who would leave their child alone on a plane?' she thought almost angrily as she continued to watch the girl. 'Perhaps her parents are in the bathroom or something?' but she couldn't remember seeing anyone get up to go to the bathroom.

She waited what had to be about ten minuets and she still didn't see the girls father or mother, or SOMEBODY who was caring for the girl… she was completely alone. 'That poor girl…' she thought as she watched the girl watch the in-flight movie.

After about a half an hour later she began to feel really sorry for the girl, she was just sitting there watching the movie, she had barely moved and whenever one of the staff had approached her offering her food she had politely declined. Claire found it odd that a child would turn down candy...

'I should see if she would like some company.' On one hand she really wanted to go over and talk to the little girl as she felt that no one, especially a little girl should be left alone but on the other hand she didn't want to see creepy.

'I'll try to get some sleep.' She snuggled in her chair and tried to sleep in an attempt to get the little girl out of her mind… after about ten minutes of tossing in her chair she gave up. 'How can Leon sleep on these chairs…' she thought to herself as she watched Leon sleep. 'He looks so peaceful asleep.' It was true, when he was sleeping he actually looked relaxed and his face didn't look hard or cold as it sometimes did.

She glanced over to Chris and Jill and noticed that they both were sleeping while holding each other in a cute way. 'aww…' she smiled happy that Chris was relaxed, it wasn't something that happened very often.

She reached into her bag which she has lying on the floor in front of her and took out a small puzzle book. 'Perhaps I should see if the girl wants to do some puzzles.' With that thought in mind she moved out of her seat and made her way to the girl.

"Hello." She said smiling as she stood by the empty seat beside the girl.

The little girl's head shot up and her emerald green eyes locked with Claire's blue. "Hello." She smiled back.

"I'm Claire," Claire introduced herself the little girl. "What's your name?"

"I'm Annabelle." Her smile increased. "But my Daddy calls me Belle."

"Belle," she tested how it sounded, oddly enough she found it suited her as a nickname, but she also continued to wonder where her father was. "Excuse me Belle," when Annabelle looked up she continued. "Do you mind if I sat here with you?"

Annabelle smiled. "No of course not!" she lifted her bag with some difficulty and placed it on the floor in front of her. "Here." She pointed to the vacant seat.

"Thank you." Claire smiled and sat beside the girl. "Where's you're dad?" she asked really wanting to know where Annabelle's father was. Who honestly leaves such an adorable girl alone on a plane?

She smiled brightly. "Daddy's waiting for me at the airport."

Oh. Claire's mind clicked with the thought that her parents must be divorced or something. "Do your parents not live together?" she asked softly hoping not to offend the little girl.

Annabelle shook her head. "Nope, mommy's dead." She said it so calmly, so relaxed like, Claire was a little disturbed. "She died when I was born."

"I'm sorry.." Claire offered her a warm smile.

"It's alright, as long as I have Daddy I can live with it." Annabelle's smile widened at the thought of her father.

Claire knew she was prying but she had to know. "Why aren't you with your dad now? Don't you live with him?"

As Annabelle shook her head a sad and lonely expression formed on her face, Claire went to tell her that it was okay and that she didn't need to tell her but Annabelle cut her off. "Because of Daddy's work I can't live with him so instead I live with my mom's sister and her husband."

'His work?' Claire felt sad at that thought, it was obvious that Annabelle loved her father a great deal so it made her fell bad that she wasn't able to spend a lot of time with him. It was then she realized something. "'mom's sister and her husband'? Don't you mean aunt and uncle?"

She shook her head again. "By blood but me and dem don't get elong very well." Even though what she had said was serious Claire found the way she said 'elong' rather than 'along' very cute.

"You don't?" she enquired.

Annabelle shook her head. "Nope, dey don't like me very much." She placed her little hands on her knees and kicked her legs gently in the air given that her feet didn't reach the floor. "Dey only let me live wit dem because of my mommy."

Upon hearing Annabelle sniff she placed a hand on the girls shoulder. "It's alright, you'll see your dad at the airport." She attempted to comfort the girl and it worked for she instantly brightened up.

"Dat's right!" she beamed. "I love spending time with Daddy, he always makes the week I spend with him fun!"

"Only a week?" For some reason this made Claire feel sad.

"Yup only a week…" the sad look took Annabelle's face again. "Every few months Daddy takes a week off work to spend time wit me," she clasped her hands together. "I'm sad dat it's only a week but Daddy always makes it the best week ever!" she instantly brightened up again.

Claire smiled. "What do you do in the week?" she asked.

"Well…" Annabelle pursed her lips in thought. "Daddy takes me to the movies and buys me popcorn and lots of chocolate!!" she beamed. "But I like whatever Daddy does with me…" she smiled warmly. "I remember one time he took me to a park, der was no one else there and he played with me, he chased me around the park, he held me as we went down the slide," she giggled at the memory. "He even pushed me really high on the swing! It was so much fun!"

"Your dad sounds like he loves you very much." Claire's smile widened, she loved seeing and hearing about families who love and care about each other, especially after everything that has happened.

Annabelle nodded excitedly. "He does, well he's never told me but I know."

"He hasn't?" This made Claire a little sad and confused.

The little girl shook her head. "No he hasn't but dat's just how Daddy is, he doesn't tell people how he feels but I can see it in his eyes." Claire was stunned at the maturity the five year old was showing.

"I wish dis plane would hurry up I wanna see Daddy!" Annabelle huffed impatiently.

Claire chuckled at her childish antics before something caught her eyesight, the name tag on Annabelle's bag… the initials were A.W her eyes widened as images of a man flashed before her eyes. A man with blonde hair, black glasses and red eyes…

"Belle…" she began softly. "What is your last name?" her voice trembled lightly as she spoke.

"Hm?" Annabelle tilted her head lightly in confusion. "It's Whittman. Why?" Claire noticed how the girl subconsciously held the teddy bear in her lap a little more tighter and closer to her.

Claire shook her head at her own idiocy, why in the world would she even consider this sweet little girl to be related to that monster. "It's nothing, just your initials reminded me of someone I've met before." She explained.

"Oh…" Annabelle didn't ask on the subject any further, she could tell from the tone in Claire's voice that she didn't want to talk about the 'someone'.

"So," Claire began wanting to change the subject as memories of Steve Burnside began to flow through her mind. "Do you know what your dad and you are going to do this week?"

"Nope." Annabelle said simply her face brightening at the thought of her father. "But I hope he takes me home."

"Home?" It was nice listening to the little girl talk about her father and her life, it was a refreshing change from hearing about Umbrella and viruses.

She nodded. "Yup, Daddy always picks me up at an airport but he usually takes me home on a helicopter from there. I like going home, we live in a small double story house in the mountains." She smiled warmly and in a way that was very mature for a girl her age. "Dere's a large fireplace and our doggy Licker." She giggled.

"L-Licker…?" Claire held back a shiver as memories of the large red animal with the long tongue came flooding back to memory.

Annabelle nodded excitedly. "Yup yup, I love Licker he's such a nice doggy! Though I kinda wish he wouldn't slobber as much." She giggled. "Ohh!! And dere's also games to play at home!" she went back to the original topic. "Like monopoly!!" she let out a small giggle. "Though I don't tink Daddy likes monopoly that much cause I always beat him."

"You do?" Claire found it to be a somewhat funny that a fully grown man could loose to such a young girl. She giggled with Annabelle.

She nodded. "Yup yup. And whenever Daddy looses he sits in his chair pouting like a little kid my age!" The pair giggled.

To Claire it was obvious that the girls father was loosing on purpose just for her, but that didn't matter she still found it funny, she also found it cute that he would do things like that for Annabelle. It reminded her of Chris in some ways.

She watched through the corner of her eyes as Annabelle tired to stifle a yawn but didn't succeed and ended up letting out a long cat like yawn.

"Why don't you get some sleep," Claire suggested with a motherly smile. "By the time you wake up we'll be at the airport."

She looked up at Claire with large, tired, emerald eyes. "Really?"

Claire nodded. "Yes."

"Tank you Claire." Annabelle let out another yawn before snuggling up next to Claire, her head rested on Claire's arm while her arms wrapped around her teddy bear.

"You're welcome."

XXX

Watching from his seat was Leon. His lips twitched into a small smile as he watched Claire. 'She'll make a good mother some day.' He thought warmly.

XXX

"Annabelle." Claire spoke softly, shaking the sleeping girls shoulder lightly. The plane had reached the airport and it was time for them to get out of the plane. "Wake up." She said softly.

Annabelle's eyes twitched in her sleep but no other signs of waking were shown. Claire sighed. "Come on Belle." She pressed a little bit harder against the girls shoulder.

Annabelle's eyes groggily opened. "H-Hu?" she blinked and looked up, recognition shone in her sleep-filled eyes. "Claire?"

Claire nodded. "Yep, it's time to get up the plane's stopped." She watched as Annabelle instantly shot up and grabbing her bag she jumped around excitedly. "Well let's go!!" she beamed before practically bouncing out of the plane with Claire.

X

"Who's the kid?" Chris asked giving Leon a meaningful glare. If there was something he and Claire weren't telling him…

Jill hid a smile knowing all too well what was going through Chis's mind and knowing for a fact that whomever that girl was, she wasn't what Chris was thinking.

"Claire met the girl on this plane, she seemed to be concerned because the girl was flying by herself." Leon answered coolly before turning to exit the plane.

Chris mumbled something under his breath before following after Leon. Jill giggled and followed after the pair.

XXX

"There you are Chirs!" Claire walked up to the three of them who had just walked into the luggage collecting area. "Where were you? I left the plane then turned around and couldn't see you guys."

"That's because we were still on the plane when you ran off with the kid." Chris sounded irritated, and he was all he wanted to do was go to the hotel and relax... though he had to admit he did get some relaxation on the plane with Jill.

Claire laughed. "That's right." She smiled before turning to see where 'the kid' was, she hoped that she was with her father… but she wasn't, instead she was standing by a chair with her bag on the floor beside her waiting for her father alone.

Chris opened his mouth to say something to Claire but before he could she had turned from them and was walking towards Annabelle. "She left." He blinked.

"She's going to wait with the girl until her father gets her." Leon explained. "From what I saw she got along pretty well with the girl on the plane, probably doesn't want her being alone." With that Leon went to collect his bags.

"Claire'll make a good mom one day." Jill patted Chris's shoulder before following Leon's suit.

Chris sighed and followed after Jill.

XXX

"Hey, where's your dad?" Claire asked Annabelle as she knelt down beside the girl.

Annabelle looked up at Claire, her eyes filled with worry. "I dunno." She said helplessly. "He's neber late, someting must have happened."

"Do you want me to wait for him with you?" Claire offered, not wanting Annabelle to be alone in the airport, something might happen to her.

Annabelle sniffed and nodded. "Yes pweese."

Claire's eyes softened. "Hey don't cry, I'm sure your dad will be here soon." She placed her hand on the girls shoulder as she directed them to the seat so that they could sit while waiting.

"I hope Daddy comes soon…" Annabelle sighed holding the teddy in her lap close to her chest.

Claire opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Jill's voice. "Here, I got your bag for you." Claire turned her torso around and saw Jill standing beside her, in one hand was her bag, in the other was Claire's.

"Thanks Jill." Claire smiled taking her bag and placing it beside Annabelle's.

"Hello," Jill smiled at Annabelle. "I'm Jill, what's your name?"

"Hello Jill." Annabelle grinned. "I'm Annabelle."

"That's a pretty name." Jill commented and was awarded with a bright smile from Annabelle. "Where's your mommy?"

"She's dead."

Jill's eyes widened in shock, Claire thought the shock was probably from the fact that Annabelle had said that so calmly. "I'm sorry…" Jill said softly. "How did she die?"

"She died giving birth to me." Annabelle kicked her dangling legs. "Daddy always tells me tat even though mom's gone she's happy 'cuz she got to have me." she offered the two women a bright smile.

'That's actually a really sweet thing to say to your kid.' Claire thought with a smile, she really wanted to meet this girls father, he sounded so nice!

"Where is your dad?" Jill asked.

"I dunno." Her eyes watered again. "I hope he gets here soon."

"Hey, its alright." Jill comforted. "Don't worry, we'll all wait here for him with you, wont we Chris?" she turned to Chris who was walking with Leon towards them.

Chris blinked and took in the girls pleading faces. "Uhh… okay?" he replied not knowing what he was consenting to.

"YAY!!" Annabelle cheered. "Tank yoo Chris!!"

Chris blinked, just what did he agree to?

XXX

Annabelle giggled as she talked with Jill and Claire, the three seemed to hit it off instantly. Even if they had been at the airport for an hour they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"So," Jill began attracting Annabelle's attention. "What's your dad's name?"

Annabelle opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off by Chirs's scream of "WESKER!!!" Their heads shot to Chris and Leon who had their guns drawn and aimed at something.

Jill and Claire's eyes went wide and they followed the guy's line of sight until they saw what Chris and Leon were aiming their guns at. Albert Wesker. Standing there, in the airport with a group of people standing stunned behind him.

"Wesker!" Jill pulled her gun out of her gun holster, now grateful that Leon had been able to get them permits for taking their weapons on the plane.

"Daddy!" Annabelle went to run towards Wesker and the group of people.

Claire thinking her father was one of the people in the stunned group stopped Annabelle from running off. "Stop!" she held onto the girl.

"B-But they're aiming guns at Daddy…" Annabelle sobbed, her eyes locked on Wesker but Claire assumed she was staring at a person behind him.

"I'll be okay," Claire lifted the girl up and let her rest on her hips while she stood behind Jill. "Just don't run over there, that man is dangerous." She warned the girl in her arms.

"But Daddy…" Annabelle watched with sad eyes.

XXX

"Christopher," Wesker's lips twitched lightly. "What a surprise, it has been far too long."

"Not long enough!" Chris spat his fist clenching tightly around the gun.

"Mr. Kennedy." His head moved towards Leon whose eyes narrowed. "Valentine." Jill glared at him. His gaze moved to Claire and Annabelle. "Miss. Redfield and…" the slight creases in his forehead showed that he was narrowing his eyes.

"What are you doing here!?" Chris demanded breaking Wesker from whatever thoughts he was having.

"Dear Christopher," he replied smugly. "Know that seeing you here is quite a surprise to me, I was merely picking something up."

"You expect me to believe that!?" Chris growled wanting nothing more than to shoot Wesker though given where they were it may not be such a good decision.

"He's aiming the gun at Daddy…" Annabelle let out a low sob and clutched Claire tightly.

"No he's not, he's aiming it at the bad guy." Even as Claire said this she couldn't ignore the thought that Annabelle wasn't talking about a person behind Wesker that ate at her mind.

Jill glanced at the two through the corner of her eyes, something flashed in her eyes making it obvious that thoughts similar to Claire's were making their way into her mind.

A small chuckle escaped Wesker's lips. "Believe what you like. However as tempting as it is I really don't have the time to play guns with you Christopher." A brow rose and his lips curled into a dark smirk. "Perhaps next time?"

Chris scowled but didn't lower his weapon, neither did Leon.

"He's gunna shoot Daddy!!" Annabelle struggled in Claire's arms but Claire held her tighter not wanting the girl to be hurt by Wesker… or Chris… just on the off chance something happened…

"I won't shoot your dad, I just want Wesker!" Chris ground out glaring at Wesker who looked very bored with the whole situation.

"Christopher I really am not in the mood for this, so if you don't want me to snap your neck with my fist I suggest you let me go and we pretend this didn't happen." It wasn't a suggestion, it was more like an order.

"What the hell!?" Chris shouted making the people standing behind Wesker flinch thinking that Chris was going to shoot them or something. "What are you planning!!" he growled and if it were possible his hand tightened harder on his gun.

"Nothing Christopher." His tone was beginning to show his annoyance. "I'm here to collect something then I will be on my way…" he smirked in a way that made it seem as though he was teasing Chris and the other's. "It's my week off."

Those words sent panic through Claire as she remembered her conversation with Annabelle. 'Every few months Daddy takes a week off work to spend time wit me' Annabelle's cheerful voice echoed through her mind.

Leon hesitated his hold on his gun for the briefest of seconds while his eyes shot to Clair and Annabelle during those seconds. He looked coldly at Wesker.

Chris fumed at Wesker's statement about it being his 'week off'. "Don't give me that shit!" he shouted. "What the hell are you doing here!?" it was obvious that Chris was getting frustrated and although he really wanted to he knew that if he did it would cause a panic if he started shooting at Wesker… plus he might end up hitting an innocent person instead.

Wesker almost sighed at Chris's stupidity. "I've already told you why I'm here, don't make me repeat myself." There was something in his voice that said that he really didn't like repeating himself.

"Please stop…" Annabelle's voice went ignored by the men but Jill and Claire heard and it only served in increasing the thoughts in the back of their mind.

"Kid I'm not gunna hurt your dad," Chris murmured. "I'll just kill the bastard Wesker then you can run to your dad."

Wesker's brow rose above his glasses as he heard Chris's words. "Are you sure you want to shoot me?" he felt his lips twitch. "If you shoot me you may end up killing her father instead."

"Please don't shoot my Dad…" panic was starting to show in Annabelle's voice and she began to squirm in Claire's arms.

Jill and Leon glanced at Annabelle through the corners of their eyes, then back at Wesker, things were staring to put themselves into place.

"Just shut up asshole!" Chris growled at Wesker. "I'm not going to shoot anyone else but you and trust me I'm gunna enjoy it!."

Wesker's brow rose higher and he opened his mouth to reply only to be cut off by a loud shriek of. "STOP!!" They all watched stunned as Annabelle pushed herself out of Claire's arms and bolted across the room towards Wesker. "Stop aiming dat gun at Daddy!" she latched her arms around Wesker's leg.

"A-Annabelle…" Claire stammered wide eyed, she silently prayed that Wesker didn't hurt the girl.

They all watched in horror as, rather than hurting or killing, or doing something painful to the girl he merely lowered his and o her head and petted it in an almost… affectionate way… "Hello… Belle…" he spoke softly.

Annabelle clutched his leg tighter and pressed her face into his trench coat.

"Belle…" Claire said softly. 'my Daddy calls me Belle.' Her mouth fell open in a gasp. "YOU'RE Annabelle's father…?"

Thin lips formed a smirk. "It's nice to see that at least one of you has some intelligence."

"What the!?" Chris lowered his gun an inch. "Since when did you have a kid!?" he was actually surprised that Wesker could even physically have a kid given that he HAD died and was infected with the virus.

"I'm sorry Claire," Annabelle looked up from Wesker's leg. "Daddy told me never to tell people my real last name." her eyes watered and she clutched her father's leg tighter.

Claire smiled sadly understanding that she probably couldn't tell her, her last name for protection which in a morbid way it was kind of sweet of Wesker to tell her do to that. "It's alright I understand."

Gaping Chris lowered his gun but remained cautious just incase Wesker tried something, Leon too lowered his gun with wide eyes though his expression wasn't as stunned as Chris's.

"You're a father…" Jill lowered her gun, she knew they would have to got after Wesker another time, she just couldn't bring herself to attack Wesker in front of the little girl… his child…

Wesker, ignoring everyone around him, looked down at Annabelle. "It's time for us to go." He said firmly. Annabelle nodded and allowed herself to be lifted by Wesker and placed on his hip in a fashion similar to the way that Claire had held her. The sight made Chris and Jill stare horrified, while Leon looked more stunned than anything else.

Claire, even though she knew just what the man was capable of and had seen some of the things he could do, she found the sight to be kind of sweet. She watched with the tiniest of smiles as Annabelle's little arm's went around his neck. It was then that she noticed the girl's teddy bear on the ground a few feet away from Annabelle's bag.

"Here Annabelle." She said softly gaining the pairs attention as she lifted the girls bag and teddy then walked over to them.

"Claire!!" Chris protested moving to stop her but Jill stopped him, something telling her that Wesker really wasn't going to hurt them today.

"Thank you Miss Redfield." Wesker accepted the bag while Annabelle took the teddy. "Tanks Claire." Annabelle smiled.

"Your welcome." Claire smiled before turning to move back to Chris and the others who were watching the scene carefully… except for Chris who was feeling faint like he was going to pass out.

"Daddy where are we going?" Annabelle asked as they moved to leave.

Wesker paused as though in thought. "We're going to a hotel for the night then tomorrow we will be going to the zoo." Chris swayed a little at the thought of Wesker at the Zoo. Jill held onto him tighter and Leon stared wide eyed.

Annabelle beamed. "YAY!!" she hugged her father before looking at Claire's back. "Can Claire come with us tomorrow?" Both Claire and Wesker froze.

"Well that's up to Claire." Wesker said smoothly and Claire could feel his eyes on her. She turned to them.

"Well… I…" looking at Annabelle's pleading face she really couldn't find a way to say no? Even if it did mean spending the day with a murderous bastard. "I suppose I could?" she could practically feel Chris sputtering in fury.

"What!!!?" He shouted struggling as Jill and Leon held him back.

Wesker studied her for a few moments before reaching into his trenchcoat and pulled out a business card. "We will be standing in front of this hotel at 10:00am, we will wait there for you for 30mins. If you don't turn up we will leave and don't bother brining anyone with you because if you do I'll know and will be gone by the time you get there."

She looked down at the card then back up at him. She nodded understanding.

"Good," he said smoothly. "Goodbye Miss Redfield." He gave her a nod before turning and walking away from them.

"Goodbye Claire!!" Annabelle waved as Wesker carried her off.

As Chris raved about how Claire wasn't going and other rants about Wesker Claire stood there stunned, a million thoughts going through her mind, the main ones though were about tomorrow and how she would be spending it with Wesker of all people.

"You're NOT going!!!" Chris's voice went unheard by her ears.

She felt her lips form a small smile, despite everything Wesker had done she felt herself feel excited about going tomorrow… she was looking forward to it…

A/N: Well there you have it, my moment of randomness. I hope you all liked it, or at least enjoyed it… if there's anything I need to change please let me know.

Review?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This was originally going to be a oneshot but people asked for me to continue and my inspiration for this came. So I hope you like this next chap =D

Wesker's Daughter

Chapter two

The Zoo

Claire's eyes shot open as her alarm went off, her eyes groggily opened as she hit the alarm button. The loud screeching sound instantly turned off, she turned in her comfortable hotel bed and looked at the alarms clock which read: 8:00am.

'Today is…' her eyes locked onto the card that rest on the dresser beside the alarm clock. Memories of yesterday and the events that had happened flashed through her mind. 'Wesker… Annabelle' she thought pushing the silk blankets off her and sitting up. 'I'm meeting them at ten for the zoo…'

The thought seemed so surreal to her, the thought that she was WILLINGLY going out to spend the day with Wesker. ALBERT WESKER, the man who had caused so much pain to both her and the people she cared about…

Shaking her head of her thoughts she jumped out of her bed and walked into the bathroom that she shared with Jill. All of their rooms were connected through the bathrooms, she was next to Jill while Jill was stuck between her and Chris. Chris was next to Leon and Jill.

'Poor Leon..' Claire smiled, Chris had pretty much demanded that Leon slept in the room beside him, he wouldn't specify why but Claire had a pretty good idea why. She shook her head at her brother's idiocy.

"Okay… what am I wearing…" she murmured zipping open her bag to take out several potential outfits for the day, while inwardly telling herself that she wasn't putting TOO much effort into deciding what to wear. Once she had placed several outfits out on her bed she walked into her bathroom to shower.

XXX

"Which one?" Claire asked aloud as she stood by her bed, wearing nothing but a towel, looking down at two outfits. Originally there was about four outfits for her to pick from but she had narrowed it down to these two but she didn't know which one to pick.

The outfit on the left was a simple pair of light blue jeans with a pale blue shirt with a white denim jacket, one of her favorite jackets actually.

The second outfit was a nice white denim skirt with a pair of slip on shoes and a white shirt. Though the outfits were somewhat plain she knew they looked really nice on her so she wasn't sure which one to pick.

"For someone's whose spending the day with her enemy you sure are taking your time in picking an outfit." Claire nearly jumped out her skin at the sound of the voice. Clutching her chest lightly she turned to see Jill leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and a somewhat smug grin on her face.

Red tinged Claire's face as she stuttered trying to come up with something to say. "Well… I-I… um…" Jill held a hand up to silence her.

"It's alright," she comforted with a soft smile. "I understand, really… Wesker… even if I don't quite understand why you're going… I can understand why you want to look your best around him." there was a tone in her voice and an expression on her face that made is seem like she was talking from experience.

Claire felt her cheeks heat up and she turned her face to hide a small blush. It was then she froze wide eyed as she realized what she was doing. She was blushing. SHE was BLUSHING! Why was she blushing? She was spending the day with their enemy and she was BLUSHING!! She let out a groan and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey it's alright." Jill placed a hand on Claire's shoulder. "You know you don't have to go."

Claire shook her head. "I'm going for Annabelle." She took her face out of her hands. "She seemed so hopeful about me going with them."

Jill nodded in understanding. "I'm still surprised he has a child…" Jill spoke disbelieving. "I mean this is WESKER he doesn't seem like the type."

Claire nodded as memories of when she first met Wesker flowed into her mind. Jill was right, Wesker just didn't seem like the father type. "But we saw it…" she said simply.

Jill shook her head and turned to leave. "If I were you I wouldn't be going but since you are I would leave soon," she turned back to Claire and attempted a joke. "who knows when Chris will wake." With that she left.

Claire almost blinked at her words. 'Did she just?' she shook her head and hastily went back to getting dressed.

XXX

Claire panted as she ran around another corner. She couldn't believe that she only had ten more minutes to get there or else they would leave and she would have let Annabelle down. Not that it was her fault! She had woken up at eight so that she could be there on time but do you think she could get a cab? NO!

She let out another pant and closing her eyes sped up her pace. "Not that far to go-" she let out a 'gah' sound as she collided with something and fell back landing on her bottom on the ground. "Owww…." She looked down at the ground.

Her head shot up at the sound of an all too familiar chuckle. "W-Wesker." Great she had just made an ass of herself in front of her brother's enemy. 'Wait…' she blinked as she realized what she had thought. 'Brother's enemy? He's mine too!!'

"How nice of you to join us." His smooth voice broke her of her thoughts. She glared hotly at him before blinking yet again as he extended a hand to her.

'He's helping me up…?' something in that thought seemed incredibly wrong to her and she knew just what it was. Wesker. THE WESKER, was offering to help her up… What. The. Hell.

"Claire!!" with that cheer filled cry her question was answered, Wesker wasn't offering to help her because he wanted to, he was doing it for his kid. 'Annabelle.' She thought with a smile as she hesitantly took his hand and allowed him to pull her up.

"Thanks…" she murmured trying to ignore the odd warmth that his gloved hand had.

He nodded in response before looking over to Annabelle who was running towards them with a little handbag hanging on her shoulder. "Hello Claire." She smiled brightly.

Claire smiled and placed her hands on her knees so she could lean down closer to Annabelle's level. "Hello." She smiled back. "How are you?"

Annabelle giggled. "I'm good!" She placed her fingers to her lips. "Though I'm a little confused about something…" when Claire asked her 'what' she continued. "Why were yoor friends aiming dere guns at Daddy?"

Claire's eyes widened and she looked up at Wesker for some form of aid, but the aid she got she didn't appreciate. "Claire's brother, Chris and his companions suffer from severe mental problems." If looks could kill the look he was receiving from Claire right then WOULD have killed him.

Annabelle opened her mouth in an 'O' shape, understanding taking her.

"They had every reason to want to shoot you!" Claire growled, her fists clenching, her eyes glaring darkly at him.

Wesker's lips twitched upwards into a smirk. "Oh really? As I recall it I never raised a hand at your _companions _so what reason could they have?" She could almost taste the smugness pouring off him.

She glared at him and went to retort with something harsh but a whimper of 'Claire' stopped her. She turned and looked down to see Annabelle looking up at her with watery, sad eyes.

"Why are you yelling at Daddy?" she whimpered clutching her arm in a frightened way.

Looking down at the girl Claire almost felt bad for yelling at Wesker. ALMOST. She knelt down to Annabelle's level and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry… It's just… I, I don't like people talking about my brother in a rude way."

Annabelle nodded as though understanding. "Daddy didn't mean to be rude." She looked up at Wesker with a bright smile that would melt just about anyone. "Did you Daddy?"

Claire couldn't help but grin as Wesker frowned. "My apologies." There was something in his voice that told Claire that he didn't like apologizing, but she could have guessed that anyway.

"Thank you." she nodded, sincerity in her voice as she rose to his level. "I'm sorry for snapping." Under any other circumstances she probably never would have apologized to Wesker but given the little girl at their side she was willing to make the exception… she just hoped Chris was okay when he woke up.

"Speaking of Christopher…" Wesker began smoothly, his lips twitching upward. "however did he let you go today?"

Claire's mouth fell open as she tried to think of a response, but try as she might nothing came to her. "Umm…" luckily enough for her the Vallet guy chose that moment to drive to the curb beside them with Wesker's black shiny car.

"Let's go shall we!!" she cheered in a way that made it obvious to Wesker that she hadn't told her beloved brother. He smirked.

XXX

"Mmmm… G'Morning Jill." Chris yawned stretching his arms as he walked into the Kitchen/living room they all shared.

"Good Morning Chris." Jill offered him a smile before going back to making breakfast for them all- she didn't much care for hotel food so she wanted to make it herself, besides she found cooking a very relaxing activity.

"Leon." Chris grunted acknowledging the agent who was sitting on the sofa reading the paper.

"Chris." Leon returned the acknowledgment looking over the paper.

Chris nodded before looking around the room, as though in search of his sister Claire.

"You like your eggs sunny side up don't you?" Jill asked, distracting him from his search of Claire. She smiled as he jumped lightly at the sound of her voice.

"Uhh… yeh.." he nodded to her before moving towards Claire and Jill's rooms.

"Chris." Leon got the ex-S.T.A.R.S attention. "A not was left on the table this morning, apparently you have an appointment with the massage department on the third floor in an hour." There was a tone in Leon's voice that mad it sound like he was teasing Chris.

Chris nodded, not noticing the teasing tone, he wasn't about to turn down a massage… especially after what happened yesterday with Wesker. He frowned as he thought about Claire and Wesker's little 'interaction' at the airport. It was then he realized that he hadn't seen Claire this morning. "Where is Claire?"

Leon's head shot up as though he hadn't even thought of Claire.

The silence he received from Jill was more than enough of an answer for Chris but he just couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that his sister would willingly go out with Wesker for the day. Glancing at Jill he stormed from the room.

"Wait Chris!" Jill held out her hands to stop him but it was too late...

"WHERE IS SHE!!!???" Echoed through their floor and the three floors above and below them.

XXX

"Claire dats a pretty jacket you're wearing." Annabelle complimented from her spot in the back seat of Wesker's car.

Claire twisted her head back so that she could beam at the girl. "Thank you! It's one of my favorites." Not noticing Wesker's raised brow at her statement she continued. "Though my brother doesn't like it very much…"

Annabelle tilted her head to the side in cute confusion. "Why not?"

Claire shrugged. "He just doesn't think it looks good on me."

Wesker's lips twitched. "And Christopher would know what looks decent on a person wouldn't he?"

Claire's head shot to him and she actually gaped at him. Had he just said that!? "W-What?!?" her mouth opened and closed, much like a fishes.

His lips twitched again and he looked over to her. "Is something the matter?" she could feel the grin in his voice, even if it wasn't showing on his lips.

She snapped out of her gape but a look of shocked horror too its place. "Y-You made a j-joke!!?" she blinked a few times and almost pinched herself just to see if it was real. "You!!?"

He turned his attention back to the road. "I does happen." Was all he said as he continued to drive them, deciding to ignore the gape on Claire's face.

"Claire are you alwight?" Annabelle chimed wondering what was wrong with Claire. Wasn't her daddy aloud to joke? Naturally Annabelle didn't see anything with her father having a small joke considering she HAD played monopoly with him.

Claire jumped from her thoughts and turned to Annabelle. "Y-Yeah.. I'm fine." She was glad Chris wasn't here… he probably would have died of eight simultaneous heart attacks by now. "Are you excited about the zoo?" she asked, deciding to get away from the topic.

Annabelle beamed. "Yup yup!!" she grinned and clasped her hands together. "I love seeing all of the animals!"

Claire smiled and the pair giggled together.

XXX

"Where do you want to go first?" Claire asked Annabelle as the three of them walked into the Zoo. She tried to keep her eyes away from Wesker, something about him being there seemed so very wrong to her.

Annabelle looked up at her father silently asking him if there was somewhere he wanted to go first. Wesker shook his head. "Wherever you want." He said calmly.

Annabelle grinned and jumped happily. "I wanna see da Llama's!!!"

Claire was a little scared at the way Wesker's body stiffened at that statement. "Alright." He said calmly but there was something in his voice that frightened Claire, it was as thought he wanted nothing more than the Llama's to die.

X

"Aren't they cute Daddy, Claire?" Annabelle beamed as she stood by the Llama pen looking at the Llama's.

"They are pretty cute." Claire smiled.

"Hn." Was all Wesker replied with from his spot a while away from the Llama's.

It was then that Claire noticed just how far Wesker was from them and the Llama's. 'Hm?' she thought confused. Why was Wesker so far away from his child. She looked up at Wesker's face and had to hold back a shudder. She could almost FEEL the hate and disdain flowing from the man, it was obvious just from looking at him that he felt some form of hatred towards the Llama's…

"Belle…" Claire began hesitantly kneeling down to Annabelle's level so that she could whisper in her ear. Once she had gained the girls attention she continued. "Why doesn't your dad come nearer to the Llamas?" it was the only thing she could think of without saying something along the lines of 'Why does your dad look like he wants to tear the Llama's apart?'

"Hm?" Annabelle looked up at Claire, her eyes flashed with realization. "Oh! Daddy doesn't like Llama's very much.

"Why is that?" Claire didn't know why but she really wanted to know.

Annabelle giggled. "Because last time we went to de zoo a Llama spat on Daddy, spittle went all ober Daddy's face and hair!" Annabelle placed her hand over her mouth as she let out a laugh.

Claire was silent for a few moments, the only sign that she was alive was the blinking of her eyes. After what had to be at least thirty seconds of silence she twitched, her lips trembled and it was obvious that she was holding back laughter… this only lasted about another three seconds before her hands shot to her mouth, covering it as she burst out with laughter.

"W-W-Wes-Wes-L-Llama!!" She clutched her chest and fell to the ground on her bottom in her laughter, not even noticing the strange looks she was receiving from several other people around them… not to mention the look she was getting from Wesker who had a pretty good idea why she was laughing.

Annabelle giggled lightly but not as much as Claire.

Claire tired to sit up and calm herself but she just ended up laughing again as an image of a cartoon Wesker being spat on by a cartoon Llama formed in her mind. "O-Oh god!!" she laughed.

X

"Daddy." Annabelle looked up at her father as the three of them walked away from the Llama pen. Claire had since calmed down, though she did occasionally let out a giggle when she glanced at Wesker, something he did NOT appreciate very much.

"Yes?" Wesker replied tilting his head to look down at his daughter.

She pointed to the ice cream vendor that wasn't too far away from them. "Can I hab an ice cream?" she smiled sweetly and gave him a look that would have made an iceberg melt.

"Alright." He reached into the pocket of his trenchcoat and pulled out some money. Handing it to her he watched her run to the vender.

"She's such a sweet girl." Claire commented.

"Hn." Was the only answer she received from him.

It was then that Claire thought of something that had bothered her since she had heard Annabelle talk about it on the plane. "Wesker?" she asked turning to him. "If I ask you a question, will I get an answer?"

"That depends on the question Miss Redfield." He replied smoothly turning his head to her.

Claire crossed her arms. "Why do you have Belle live with her Aunt and Uncle?" she knew it was none of her business but it was obvious that Annabelle hated living with those people.

Wesker's brow went up at that. "They are her mother's family." He already knew where this was going but he'd let her get it there.

"What I mean is," she sighed. "WHY do you let her live there? It's obvious that she's not happy with them and as much as I loath the idea of a child living with you it's obvious she'd be more happy living with you than anyone else!"

He remained silent and allowed her to finish her rant knowing it would be pointless to stop her.

"Do you even know how they're treating her!?" she hissed under her breath, quickly glancing over to see if Annabelle was still at the vender. She was. "They're treating her poorly!"

"They aren't physically abusing her." Was his cold response and there was a tone in his voice that said, 'they wouldn't dare'.

At those words Claire sighed and let her anger simmer a little. "That's not what I meant." She shook her head. "Emotionally, those people aren't good for her. She wouldn't come out and say it but that's the impression I got from her."

"Hn." He looked over to Annabelle and Claire couldn't help but notice the very prominent frown that formed on his face.

Claire turned and saw Annabelle laughing with what appeared to be the vendors eight year old son. Her lips twitched as she realized why Wesker was frowning. She giggled and didn't even have to look at him to tell that he was now giving her the look.

"Wesker I-I have a proposition." She giggled. "I'll do just about anything if you let me be there when she brings home her first boyfriend." She laughed and it was obvious to Wesker that she was joking but he couldn't help the increase in his frown.

He went to say something but decided against it as he felt a little hand slide into his. "Tank you for the ice cream daddy." Annabelle grinned up at her father with the ice cream in her hand.

Wesker nodded before glancing at Claire who was grinning. He raised an inquisitive brow.

"Nothing." She smiled her eyes locking on the little hand in Wesker's. It was in that moment she was happy that she went today for she got to see a side of Wesker that would probably give Chris twelve simultaneous heart attacks.

X

"Look at all of the butterfly's!" Annabelle pointed at the beautifully colored butterfly's that filled the butterfly enclosure. Her smiled brightened as she looked at a yellow and orange colored butterly.

"They are really beautiful aren't they?" Claire smiled as she looked down at a pretty pink butterfly. "I love butterflies." She breathed, her eyes widening as the pink butterfly fluttered onto her nose.

"Wow Claire!!" Annabelle clapped her hands as she noticed the butterfly on Claire's nose. "Isn't dat amazing Daddy!!" she pointed up to Claire who was going cross-eyed in an attempt to see the butterfly.

Wesker's lips twitched. "I suppose it is."

Annabelle gave him a toothy grin.

X

"Is this the seals?" Claire asked as she tried to see the enclosure of the seals past the crowd of people standing in the way. After going to see the butterflies, the three of them had gone to see several other animal's like the monkey's and big cats, they were now seeing the seals.

Wesker crossed his arms and frowned as he noticed Annabelle jumping up and down in an attempt to jump above the crowd and see into the enclosure… It was actually kind of cute… not that he would EVER say that aloud.

Claire sighed. "I guess we'll have to go somewhere else or wait for the crowd to die down."

"Alright." Annabelle said sadly before finishing off her ice cream, Claire was surprised at how she hadn't got a drop of the ice cream on herself. Just as Claire was about to kneel down to cheer Annabelle up she watched in awe as Wesker leant down put his hands under her arms and lifted her up, over his head and placed her so that she was seated on his shoulders.

"Hee hee!! Thank you Daddy!!" Annabelle hugged what she could of his head and leant down to kiss his hair, Claire couldn't help but notice the face she pulled at the taste of Wesker's hair gel, not that she could really blame the girl… he probably used some of the strongest stuff.

"You're welcome." He felt his lips twitch as Annabelle clapped her hands happily and giggled as she watched the seals.

Claire smiled at the sight the father and daughter made, looking away she couldn't help but notice an elderly couple grinning as they watched the three of them. Her eyes widened as she realized the picture the three of them must have painted…

…at the hotel Chris shivered and tensed, not knowing why…

X

"Did you enjoy seeing the seals?" Claire asked Looked at Annabelle who was now walking beside her father holding his hand with her little one.

"Yup yup." Annabelle beamed. "Dey did lot's of tricks!" she giggled. "Like back flips and throwing balls of der noses!" she paused for a moment before continuing. "It reminded me of when Licker flips balls of his nose!"

Wesker noticed Claire tense through the corner of his eyes. "Something the matter Miss Redfield?"

"Only you would name your pet licker." She hissed under her breath.

Even if he wasn't on the outside, Claire could tell that on the inside he was smirking.

"Is someting wrong Claire?" Annabelle asked a little confused at the tone Claire was using.

Jumping at Annabelle's voice, Claire shook her head. "It's nothing…" She glared at Wesker through the corner of her eyes.

"Where would you like to go next Belle?" Wesker asked, completely ignoring Claire's glare.

Annabelle put her hand to her chin in thought for a moment before jumping up and down excitedly. "I wanna see da snakes!!"

X

"Do you like snakes?" Claire asked as she stepped beside Annabelle who was watching a boa with large, pretty eyes.

"Yes." She nodded, her voice alone showed her love for the reptiles.

"Why do you like them so much? If you don't mind me asking."

Annabelle smile and turned to her. "Because their eyes remind me of Daddy!" she beamed a bright smile lighting her face.

At Annabelle's statement Wesker looked down at her, his hand came down to her head in what had to be called an affectionate pet.

Claire went silent. The eyes that most would associate with terror… hate and fear… Annabelle loved them… she felt her eyes well at the sentiment. She quickly turned away to rub at her eyes.

"Is something wrong Claire?" Annabelle asked placing her little hand on Claire's arm.

"I'm fine." Claire replied a little too quickly.

X

"Look at all the toy's Claire!!" Annabelle beamed as they ran through the gift shop.

"They're very cute" Claire smiled looking down at a toy tiger.

"Hee hee Daddy can I please have this?" Annabelle asked Wesker as she held a little stuffed monkey doll in her hands.

"I suppose." He replied coolly, even though it was obvious that he wasn't going to say no.

Smiling Claire moved to another part of the store. 'Is that jewelry?' her brows furrowed. Since when did they sell jewelry at Zoo's? taking a closer look she realized it was mostly to do with the butterflies but there was also a few broaches and things to do with the other animals.

Her eyes scanned over the items briefly and just as she was about to turn to look elsewhere something caught her eye. It was just a simple ring, silver, but it was the engraving that caught Claire's eye, it was an engraving of three butterflies, two large ones and one smaller one in the middle of the two.

"Dats a pretty ring Claire." Annabelle, who had been watching her, said standing beside her.

Claire smiled. "Yes it is."

"Why don't you get it?" Annabelle asked trying to hold back a yawn.

Claire smiled, knowing she would never be able to afford it. "You're tired." She looked down at Annabelle who was trying to hold back another yawn. "I'll go get Wesker." With that she turned and walked off to find Wesker who was somewhere in the store.

Annabelle turned and looked at the ring Claire was watching.

XXX

"It's been a long day." Claire commented, smiling at the half asleep Annabelle who was being carried by Wesker on his hip.

"Mmmhmm." Annabelle hummed as the left the Zoo and headed towards the car. "I enjoyed it dough…" Annabelle yawned.

"That's good." Claire smiled and sighed with relief as they reached the car. Her feet were killing her so it would be nice to sit for the ride back.

As Wesker placed Annabelle on the ground Claire watched as the girls eyes widened as though she was remembering something. "Oh!" she held her monkey doll under her arm as she reached into her little bag and pulled out a little black box. "This is for you!" she grinned practically thrusting the box into Claire's hands.

"Belle?" she looked at the girl then down at the box in her hands. Slowly she opened the box and she felt her eyes widen as she saw the ring she had been looking at inside.

"Thank you for coming with us today Claire." Annabelle put her hands behind her back as she thanked Claire.

"Oh!" Claire fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around the little girl. "Thank you Belle!" she held the girl tighter. "You didn't need to though…"

Annabelle smiled and returned the hug. "You're welcome."

XXX

Silence filled the car as it drove down the streets of L.A. Annabelle was asleep in the back seats with a little black blanket that Wesker had in the car wrapped around her.

"Wesker…" Claire began uncomfortably.

A raised brow was the only response she received.

Taking a deep breath she continued. "Thank you…"

"For what Miss Redfield?" he replied as they turned a corner.

"For… for letting me see this side of you… even if…" another sigh. "even if after today we go back to hating each other."

"Miss Redfield, whenever did I say I hated you?"

Just as she was about to more or less demand what he meant by that she felt the car pull over and looking out the window she realized that they were at her hotel.

X

"Chris they're here!" Leon called from his spot by the window. In his hands were the binoculars that more or less ordered him to use while waiting for Claire's return… needless to say neither, Leon, Chris or Jill got much relaxation.

Stomping could be heard from the rooms as Chris practically stampeded through them to get to Leon. "Where is she? Give me those!" snatching the binoculars from Leon he looked through them.

"The black car." Leon told him.

"She's back?" Jill walked into the room sounding more than relieved.

"What the hell he's getting out of the car with her?!!" Chris growled scooting closer to the window to get a better view.

X

"Thanks for dropping me off." Claire smiled nervously. Not that you could blame her, since when did she small talk with her enemy?

He nodded in response.

Claire looked at the sleeping Annabelle in the car. "She's such a sweet girl." Her brows furrowed in thought for a moment before she grabbed her handbag and began rummaging through it.

X

"What the hell she doing?!" Chris watched as she pulled something out of her bag. "She's giving the bastard something!!!"

X

"Can you give this to Annabelle." On the piece of paper was a phone number. "Tell her she can call me if she ever needs me, even if it's just to talk or hang out for a while."

He accepted the card. "What would instill such an act of kindness Miss Redfield?"

"I like Belle," she replied simply. "and I think it would be nice if she had a friendly face around every now and then. So she's not so alone…"

"I see…" with that he turned to go back to his car. "Goodbye Miss Redfield."

"Goodbye… Wesker…"

A/N: Well there you have it, the second part. I already have an ending for this story set out (based of RE5) but I don't quite want to end it yet and those who have finished RE5 will probably understand that. So please guys, give me ideas so I don't have to end it yet! =D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Part three ^^ I wasn't quite sure what to do with this one so I hope you all like it ^^'

Disclaimer: Me no own.

Chapter three

Meetings

'What the hell is this!?' Claire inwardly screamed as she sat on her bed at the hotel. After getting back two nights ago Chris, after much screaming, yelling, and demanding, had put her under a 'house arrest' she was in her twenties for heavens sake!! She wasn't some teenager.

The worst part was that her brother was actually sitting by her bedroom door to make sure she didn't try to sneak out, and if he wasn't there he had either Leon or Jill watching, which made her feel worse because they really didn't deserve it.

Sighing Claire sat up on her bed and glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Annabelle." She breathed a smile forming on her features, that day had been fun. 'I wonder how she's doing?' she thought to herself twirling the ring around her finger. Luckily, Chris had yet to see the little item, if he did he'd probably die then and there… or go into a rage…

"I need to get out of here…" she groaned covering her eyes with her arm. She wished that Chris had given her at least something to do, this really wasn't fair!

She jumped as she heard her phone ringing. "W-Who?" reaching over to her dresser and lifting her phone she sat up and flipped it open. She didn't recognize the number but she answered anyway. "Hello?"

"Hello Claire!!" a cheerful voice she recognized instantly filled her ears.

She smiled. "Hello Annabelle." Her smile widened as she realized that Wesker was nice enough to give her the number, she had almost expected him to throw it away. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if yoo wanted to meet me and Daddy at da shopping centre today." Even if Claire couldn't see it she knew that Annabelle was twirling her fingers and running her foot against the floor nervously.

She opened her mouth to reply with a 'I'd love to' but it was then she realized that she was locked in her room with no way of getting out unless she took Chris on… and she really didn't want to take on her own brother.

"I…" she paused again, she really didn't want to say no to Annabelle but was there really any other way? Then again… "I'll see what I can do." She answered, she wasn't going to let Chris control her, this was her vacation and while she could understand where Chris was coming from was she not entitled to have fun on her vacation?

"YAY!!!" Claire had to hold the phone away at the frequency of Annabelle's voice. "I'll just put Daddy on." For a few moments all Claire could hear was rummaging, an indication that Annabelle was running to give the phone to Wesker.

"Miss Redfield." Claire could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Wesker." She returned the greeting. "Ummm…" she really didn't know what to say.

Thankfully Wesker did, he told her the name of the shopping centre to meet them at and when to meet them. Claire hastily jotted down the details down on a piece of paper.

"Alright." She said slowly reading down what she had written. "I'll be there." 'I hope.' she thought.

"Miss Redfield." With that said he hung the phone up.

She remained still for a few moments, the dial tone filling her ears before she finally hung up. 'How am I going to get there?' she thought to herself as she reached for her hairbrush and began to fix her hair. She wasn't going out looking like a raccoon after all.

X

'Okay I'll just tell Chris I want to go get a massage or something…' she thought to herself lifting her handbag before going to her room's door. 'This isn't going to work…' she thought as her hand reached for the door handle.

Before she even had a chance to touch the door handle the door flung open and Claire saw Jill standing there. "Uhh… Jill!…hi…" she put her hand up in a weak greeting.

Jill stared at her long and hard for a long time before sighing and stepping aside. "If you're going to go, do it now."

Claire blinked. "Y-You're helping me?" wasn't Jill Chris's girlfriend, so why was she taking her side.

Jill closed her eyes. "Locking you up like your some kind of monster is wrong and even though I know you're going to run off to Wesker…" she brushed some of her hair out of her face. "…it's your decision to make, not Chris's."

Claire almost hugged Jill. She really hoped Chris married Jill, she was too nice of a woman to let go. "Thank you…" there was an awkward silence between the two.

"Go!" Jill practically pushed away. "Go before they get back from their massage!"

XXX

'Now what was the shop we were supposed to meet at?' Claire thought to herself as she walked through the shopping mall. She absentmindedly looked at the shops in search for the shop she was meeting Wesker and Annabelle at.

She froze as a shop caught her eye. 'Jill's sandwiches…?' she thought to herself, feeling her lips twitch at the shop's name. Perhaps she should take Jill there some time? With that in mind she continued walking.

It was some five minutes later when she found Wesker and Annabelle standing by an ice cream stand, Wesker was as cool as usual while Annabelle was eating a vanilla ice cream.

Claire smiled at the sight of them father and daughter standing together. 'It's sweet… even if it is Wesker.' She opened her mouth to say something to them only to be cut off by Annabelle who had spotted her.

"Claire!" The girl cheered bouncing towards Claire, ice cream in one hand and the other spread out to greet her.

Claire knelt down to the girl's level. "Hello." She looked up to Wesker who was walking towards them. "Wesker." She nodded in acknowledgment.

"Miss Redfield." He returned the nod.

XXX

Chris and Leon walked into the hotel room's living room. They both looked positively relaxed. The pair walked towards the sofa in the room and plopped down, their bodies like jelly from the massage.

"Hello Jill." Chris smiled lazily from his spot on the sofa.

"Hello Chris." Jill replied a little too quickly. She inwardly cursed once she realized this. Thankfully Chris didn't notice her uneasiness and she let out a small sigh in relief.

Leon stared at her curiously, unlike Chris, he had noticed her strange actions and his eyes narrowed lightly but he didn't say anything.

"How was your massage?" Jill enquired pouring herself a drink, she gestured to the mug in a silent offering but the two shook their heads saying 'no'.

Chris leaned further back into the sofa, it was obvious those masseurs had done their jobs. "It was great…" he sighed contently.

Leon nodded in agreement.

Jill smile at Chris, she really loved seeing him happy. "That's good." She took a sip of her drink.

A comfortable silence took the group but it only lasted a few moments before Chris's eyes shot open as though remembering something. "How's Claire?" he asked.

The two males noticed how Jill stiffened at the question. "S-She's f-fine…" Jill tried to sound as calm as possible but failed miserably… she really had a hard time lying to Chris.

Chris shot up from the sofa and practically bombarded towards Claire's room. "Claire!?" he shouted slamming open the door to Jill's room.

"Chris!" Jill went after him, followed swiftly by Leon.

"Jill…" Chris turned to Jill who was standing by the door of Claire's room while Chris was standing by Claire's bed. "Where. Is. She?"

XXX

"Hee hee Claire look at that!" Annabelle giggled, taking Claire's hand and dragging her towards a light blue dress that was being displayed in a shops window. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Yes it is!" Claire smiled taking in the different colors and types of dresses in the shop's window. Her fingers unconsciously slid against the ring on her finger.

Wesker noticed the action but chose not to say anything about it.

"Daddy." Annabelle turned to him, her hands behind her back. "Would you please buy me that dress?" she smiled up sweetly.

Claire smiled as Wesker nodded. She then grinned as Annabelle took his hand and led him into the shop, the sight was just too sweet.

X

"You…" Claire began hesitantly as she watched Annabelle run to get herself a bottle of water from a nearby shop. "…you really care about Belle…" she looked up at Wesker slowly. "…Don't you?"

"Hn." Was the only response he offered her to that and she couldn't really blame him considering she hadn't exactly expected an answer to the question.

She smiled and watched as Annabelle waited in line to pay for her drink. "She's such a sweet girl." She knew she was making small talk and she knew it was probably annoying him but she wasn't going to just stand there and glare at him while Annabelle wasn't there. She may as well try to make some form of conversation.

He didn't answer her but the small twitch of his lips told her that he was agreeing with her.

There was a moments silence, it seemed neither party knew what to say to the other. It was really awkward until Wesker decided to talk. "How does your darling brother feel about this little _outing_?"

She visibly flinched at question.

"I see." He spoke coolly, not even trying to hide his amusement.

Claire scowled and opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the sweet voice of Annabelle. "Is something wrong Claire?" she looked up at Claire worried.

Claire shook her head and let out a breath to release her anger. "I'm fine… don't worry about it." she shot Wesker a glare through the corner of her eyes.

Annabelle nodded but it was obvious that she didn't believe Claire in the slightest but she didn't say anything. "Daddy." She smiled up at Wesker. "Can we go look at some more shops now?"

Wesker nodded.

"Yay!" she cheered before taking Claire and Wesker's hands and walking off with them.

XXX

Claire ran her fingers along a book as she stood in a bookstore. She glanced at Annabelle who was looking a few fairy tale books, she smiled, she loved fairy tales too. Especially the Hans Christian Anderson books.

"Do you have a favorite fairy tale?" She asked kneeling down to look at the books with Claire.

Annabelle nodded.

"What's your favorite?" Claire lifted up a copy of the original 'Little Mermaid' she might just buy that…

"I have two." Belle smiled. "The brave tin soldier and Beauty and the Beast." She laughed. "Daddy reads dem two me every time I spend da week with him!"

Claire's eyes widened and her head shot to Wesker who was flipping through a random book uninterested. She tried her hardest to, but she just couldn't envision Wesker sitting by a child's bed reading Annabelle a book.

"I…" she began slowly, still trying to envision it. Wasn't it strange that she could see him getting spat on by a llama but she couldn't picture him reading to his own daughter? "…Excuse me for a second Belle." With that she rose and stepped towards Wesker who was now saying something to some woman who was obviously trying to hit on him.

"What was that about?" Claire asked with a raised brow and the hint of a smile as she watched the storm off holding back tears.

Wesker slammed the book in his hands shut and regarded her for a few moments. "Nothing of any consequence." Was all he said.

Claire crossed her arms. "It didn't look like nothing." She almost couldn't believe herself, she was teasing him! SHE was teasing HIM!!

He raised a brow at the tone she was taking with him but was unable to say anything in response as Annabelle walked up to them. "Daddy." She lifted a book up to them. "What's dis book about."

Claire inwardly grinned and moved away to leave Wesker to explain what 'A clockwork orange' was about. Though… she did have to wonder what the hell that book was doing in the children's section.

XXX

"Jill's sandwiches." Wesker stared blankly at the shop they were walking past.

Claire laughed lightly. "You noticed that. I was thinking about taking Jill to see that."

"Hn." He looked away from the shop and down to Annabelle who was holding a small plastic bag filled with the things they had bought today.

"Daddy." She yawned, tiredness evident in her eyes. "Can we go home?" she rubbed her eyes with her spare hand.

He was silent for a few moments before nodding. "Yay!" Annabelle took his hand. "Can Claire come too?"

Claire jumped at the question. Annabelle wanted her to go where!? She looked up at Wesker with a 'deer caught at headlights' expression.

Wesker remained calm. "If Miss Redfield wishes it." it was with that statement that Claire wondered just how much Wesker put up with for his daughter.

"Claire?" Annabelle looked up at her and Claire knew that she would never be able to say no to that face.

"I…" She looked to Wesker for help but received nothing but a amused twitch of his lips. She sighed. "I suppose I could just for a little while.." Annabelle's eyes lit up and she lunged at Claire, wrapping her little arms around the woman's legs.

Rubbing the top of Annabelle's head softly a thought echoed through her mind… 'Chris is going to have a heart attack if he ever finds out about this…'

A/N: Well I hoped you all enjoyed this… hopefully I'll have the next part up soon (This chap is kinda a two-parter). ^^'

I want to thank everyone who gave me suggestions, they really will help with future chapters =D I would also like to thank Haveyouseenmyghost, You're idea's have inspired and helped me greatly! ^^

Review???? O.O


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: hope you all like the chapter ^^

Disclaimer: If I didn't own it three chapters ago why would I own it now? (Though I do own my OC's =D)

Chapter 4

The blackout before home

Claire sighed as she rode the elevator up to the hotel room where her luggage, friends and family were. She was going to die, she could see it now… Chris was going to kill her.

…Why?

…Because she was going up to her hotel room to get her luggage so that she could go with Wesker and Annabelle to their house. WESKER'S HOUSE!! And what's worse is that she's going to be lying to her brother about where she was going… Chris was going to kill her…

'…Give me strength…' Claire thought as the elevator came to a halt at her level. Slowly she walked out of the elevator and headed towards her room.

XXX

"Here…" Jill offered Chris a smile as she passed him a glass of water. She hoped it would calm his nerves even for a little while… though she sincerely doubted it. He seemed as though he was going to be like this until Claire got back.

Chris grunted in thanks and took the glass from her. It was obvious that he was still annoyed at her for letting Claire leave.

Jill held back a sigh and looked over to Leon who was twirling his 'punisher' handgun around his index finger. Jill watched him for a few moments knowing that there was a story behind that gun and as curious as she was about it she knew he wasn't going to tell her of all people about it. She doubted he would even tell Claire the story behind that gun.

Jill gave Chris another glance, her eyes taking in the sight of him. He looked terrible his face was tinted red from anger but his eyes only had annoyance in them. Jill assumed that this was because he couldn't be too angry considering he didn't know whether or not Claire had ran off to Wesker.

Jill opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as the door to their hotel room opened and in walked Claire.

"Umm…Hi…" she laughed nervously as she lifted her hand in a wave.

Chris leapt from his chair. "Hi!? Hi!?!?!" he flailed an arm to put emphasis on himself. "Is that all you have to say!? Where the hell have you been!?"

Both Jill and Claire winced at Chris's shouting.

Leon rose from his chair and placing his punisher back into his holster he stepped towards them.

Claire set her brother an apologetic look. "Chris, I'm sorry I just wanted to spend some time by myself." She scratched her arm. "…I made Jill let me go." She silently hoped that her saying that would get Jill out of most of the trouble she was in with Chris. "…I… wanted some time to myself." She lifted her shopping bags. "I went shopping." She smiled nervously.

Leon didn't seem to buy that she was just shopping for a minute but he didn't say anything about it.

Chris, however, seemed to accept her explanation. "…Sis… I'm…" he shrugged helplessly and looked away embarrassed. "I'm sorry…"

Claire smiled and nodded, knowing exactly what he was apologizing for. "It's alright."

"Claire." Chris smiled. "You wanna come with us for some tea?"

Claire would have loved to go out with her brother and friends for some tea… but she couldn't knowing that Wesker and Annabelle were waiting for him. "Chris I'm sorry.." she looked away. "I… I have to go…" she clenched her fists, she was about to lie to her brother and it was killing her.

"What!?" Chris damn near shouted. "Why!?"

Jill and Leon inched forward.

She looked back at him but refused to make eye contact. "Work called while I was out… they…" she scratched her arm. "…they want me to go back for some important work that's just come up…" she knew that it was wrong to lie to him, but she also knew it would be a hell of a lot worse if he found out the truth. "I need to catch tonight's flight to be there in time.."

Leon's eyes narrowed. Something about that story seemed off. Glancing at Jill he knew he wasn't the only one thinking it.

"Seriously Claire?" Chris wasn't completely convinced but he was buying it a lot more that Leon or Jill were.

She nodded and refused to meet his eyes. "Yeh… I'm sorry Chris. I need to pack…" she moved to go to her room.

"Do you want us to go to the airport with you?" Chris offered.

She shook her head. "It's okay, I'll go by myself. No need to make you ruin your holiday…" with that she went to her room.

"Claire…"

XXX

"…well… umm…" Claire shifted uncomfortably as she looked down at her packed bags. A large part of her still couldn't believe what she was about to do… but another part had accepted it almost warmly.

"You're not going to 'work' are you?"

Claire jumped at the sound of the smooth voice behind her. Swiftly she turned to see Leon standing in front of her bedroom door, staring at her with his arms crossed across his chest. "W-What makes you say that?" she laughed nervously.

He locked eyes with her. "It's obvious." Was all he said.

Claire laughed again and tried to think up something to say, but nothing came to mind- she couldn't lie to Leon, somehow he could always tell when she was lying… she was like an open book to him… upon thinking that she realized who else she was like a open book to.

"Leon… I'm sorry." She sighed.

He nodded. "I know." It was true, he did know what was going through her mind- they were very similar in that regard… and he knew that were he in her shoes, he'd probably be doing the same thing… only swap Wesker for an Ada Wong.

She scratched her arm uncomfortably. "Umm… Leon… I…" she wasn't quite sure what to say. "You… you won't… umm…"

He shook his head. "No, I won't tell." At her small sigh of relief he continued. "You should."

She looked off sadly. "I can't… even if I'm not going for Wesker… Chris he, he wouldn't understand."

Leon nodded in understanding. "Claire, he will find out eventually."

"I know…" she looked up at him again. "But… I'm doing this for Bell…" 'And me…' a small part of her mind spoke to her.

Again he nodded.

Then, without warning Claire hugged Leon. "Thank you…" she said softly.

Nodding he returned the embrace.

XXX

"Well umm…" Claire stood in front of Chris, Jill and Leon uncomfortably. "I suppose I'll see you guys soon?"

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the airport?" Chris pressed.

She replied with a shake of her head. "No, its okay, you relax a bit."

"Sis…" Chris began.

"Well!" Claire lifted her bags. "Time to go." She tried to sound as cheerful as she could. Hugging Chris she said a goodbye to him.

"Bye Claire…"

XXX

"Miss Redfield." Wesker acknowledged as he watched her slowly walk towards the car- he instantly noticed that she looked as though she was about to cry.

Moving towards the trunk of his black car he lifted the lid and held it open for her.

"Thanks…" she muttered weakly as she proceeded in putting her luggage bags in the car. She still couldn't believe she was doing this… and willingly!

Wesker silently watched Claire place the luggage in the trunk, and when she was finished he closed the lid and stepped towards the passenger door and in an oddly gracious gesture he opened the door for her.

She looked at him then at the opened door. "Thanks…" she offered him a small smile before stepping into the car. He nodded in response and closed the door behind her.

As Wesker stepped into his side of the car Claire looked back and noticed that Annabelle was sleeping. "She's so adorable when she sleeps." She commented as she noticed Annabelle sucking her thumb lightly.

"Hn." He turned the key, starting the ignition before driving. Claire noticed the smallest twitch in his lips.

"So umm…" she began hesitantly. "How are we getting to your home?"

Not expecting him to answer she was stunned when he replied. "First we will go to the hotel where Belle and myself are currently staying to collect our belongings. From there we will be taking a helicopter."

"Oh." Claire felt a little embarrassed for even asking from the tone he had taken.

A silence took the car and Claire knew that it was going to be a LONG drive.

X

"Belle." Claire watched in awe as Wesker gently shook his daughter awake.

When Annabelle didn't response Wesker held back a sigh. "Belle." He repeated, this time with a little more force, his hands shaking her shoulders.

'If it were anyone else he probably would have hurt them by now…' Claire thought stunned at the care Wesker was taking. She would have never Imagined this from Wesker, even if it was his daughter… then again if she thought about it, it wasn't that strange…

"Ummnnnn…" Annabelle twisted in the car seats as she began to stir. "D-Daddy?" she blinked, her little hands moving up to rub her eyes. "Hello." She smiled.

"Hello." Was his simple reply.

Claire remained silent, she felt as though if she were to speak she would be ruining a moment between the two.

"Are we going home daddy?" Annabelle sat up as she asked him.

He nodded. "And Miss Redfield is joining us." With that said Wesker moved from the car and looked back at Claire. "Is that not correct?"

Claire nodded. "Yes."

"Yay!" Annabelle leapt from the car and ran up to Claire. Latching onto Claire's leg she giggled. "You'll get to meet Licker!"

"Y-Yeah…" Claire held back a shudder- she silently prayed to every deity that existed that Wesker's dog Licker wasn't an actual licker. Then again knowing Wesker…

As if knowing exactly what was going through her head Wesker smirked almost sadistically. "I am sure Miss Redfield with absolutely _love _Licker." Claire resisted the urge to scowl at him for the tone he used.

"Hee hee I hope so!" Annabelle clapped happily- in her eyes there was nothing wrong with what her father had said, or her doggy.

"Y-Yeah…" Claire scratched her arm not knowing what else to say. "Should I get my luggage out of the car?" she suggested trying to change topic.

Wesker moved towards the boot of the car. Silently he opened the trunk and gestured to her.

"Thanks." She muttered moving to collect her bags- a small part of her was screaming that she turn and run from Wesker. That it was stupid to even consider going with him! But she tried her best to drown out this voice- she KNEW it was a bad idea to be doing this, but she was doing it anyway.

Once Claire had taken her bags Wesker slammed the trunk shut and gestured for them to move into the hotel. Claire walked beside Annabelle who stood between her and Wesker, holding onto Wesker's hand.

'It is sweet…' Claire thought with a smile as she looked at Annabelle holding onto Wesker's hand.

XXX

"Here we are!" Annabelle smiled as the elevator stopped at their floor. Running to their room which was two doors away from the elevator she waited for her father and Claire to come.

Claire felt a little out of place as she walked towards the hotel room- here she was in jeans and a top, in a place that looked as though it was one hundred dollars just for a bar of soap.

"Something the matter Miss Redfield?" Wesker spoke smoothly as he opened the door. He then waited for Annabelle to run into the room before gesturing to Claire, once she was in he followed after.

Claire looked around the room and had no real words that she could use to comment on the room- it looked expensive, that was a given, but it seemed really different from a room that one would assume Wesker to reside at. Considering Claire had a morbid image of Wesker staying in a small dark room filled with computers she was left in awe as she walked into the living room which was filled with light from the window's which gave a view of the city.

"I'll pack my bags!" Annabelle cheered running off to her room on the other end of the room.

Claire looked around the room while Wesker locked the door- it looked like the typical expensive hotel room, a large kitchen, the lounge with soft designer sofa's and a large plasma T.V. It was everything one would expect in a hotel room- there was just one thing that bothered her about the room.

"Wesker what is that…?" she pointed to the wall that separated the kitchen and living room. normally she would have no problem with these walls but this one was covered in padded material… it was one of the most bizarre things she had ever seen in a hotel room.

Walking into the area Wesker glanced at what she was pointing at. "It is a wall Miss Redfield." The tone in his voice made her glare darkly at him.

"I know that!" she defended herself. "I mean why is it covered in material?"

There was pause for a curious stretch of time before he answered. "Perhaps Miss Redfield it is for people who desire to lean comfortably on the wall?"

Claire stared, then shook her head, she didn't understand rich people and the things they had in their homes. "Ok- AAAY!!" She jumped and shouted the last part as a loud roar of lightening caught her off guard. Panting she glared at the smirking Wesker.

"Is it raining?" Claire turned to see the almost black sky and the heavy rain pounding against the window. 'That was quick.' She thought, she couldn't even remember there being any signs of rain on the drive there- nor could she remember hearing any talk of rain on the television.

"It appears to be." Even though he knew that Claire probably didn't want an answer to her question he gave one anyway.

As the rain got heavier the lights began to flicker. "God it must be pretty hard out there…" she stepped closer to the window to get a better look but stopped as the sky lit up with one large flash of light. "Ah…" She looked up as the lights began to flicker, she turned to Wesker. "Wes-" the lights went out. "-ker…"

"Daddy! Claire!" Came Annabelle's cry accompanied by the sound of her feet scampering towards the room. "Daddy…." Her choked sob filled the room.

"Belle." Wesker's smooth voice filled the room.

"Where are yoo Daddy?"

"I'll help you Belle…" Putting her hands out in front of her Claire walked practically blind across the room. 'If I can find you of course…' she thought to herself as she bumped into what felt like the sofa. 'You think a room with such large walls would get some kind of natural light…' the rain pounded heavier.

"Huh!?" Claire jumped as her hands touched a soft surface. 'What the hell is that!?' she thought as her hands pressed against the soft surface. '…Oh…' she let out a sigh. 'It's just the fabric wall…' pressing closer to it she looked around for Annabelle. "Where are you Be-" she froze, did the wall just move a little?

'Umm…' She slowly placed both of her hands on the wall and felt around a bit- it was firmer than she had initially thought. "Hm?" she trailed her hands downwards, and although there was a small voice in her head that said she probably shouldn't be doing this but she ignored it as the wall warmed her hands.

"Ah!" she jumped again as the wall moved again. "What the…?" curious she pressed against the material, the firmness pushed down lightly. '…what the heck?' she thought as her hand trailed down the material… she froze however as her fingers reached something that felt suspiciously like a belt… 'Oh god…'

A smooth chuckle reached her ears. "Perhaps we could continue this another time Miss Redfield?" the smirk in his voice was so evident she could practically taste it.

"I'm game if you are." The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them… she was now grateful the power was out for two reasons. One: so he couldn't see the expression on her face. Two: so she couldn't see the expression on his.

Snatching her hands away she looked away, praying to every deity he couldn't see the blush plastered on her face, sure it was dark but you could never tell with those eyes of his.

"Where are you two?" Annabelle's voice was accompanied with a thud and a bump, she had fallen over. "Ouch…"

"Belle." Wesker spoke and the sound of rummaging could be heard, then with a strange clicking sound a small patch of light lit the area Wesker was standing at.

Claire, noticing that he was using his phone as a source of light, looked around for Annabelle. "Belle…" she smiled reaching out to what she could see of Annabelle.

"Claire!" Annabelle practically leapt at Claire and clutched her hands tightly. "Where's Daddy?"

"Here." Claire directed Annabelle to Wesker who was still holding onto the phone.

"Daddy!!" Claire watched as Annabelle ran from her to Wesker and flung her arms around his leg. "What happened to da light?" she looked up him.

Wesker remained silent for a few moments, his free hand came down upon the top of her head in what Claire was calling an 'affectionate pet' "A power blackout." He said softly. "Stay with Miss Redfield. I will be back in a few moments." With that said he guided Annabelle to Claire, handed Claire the phone, then left for what Claire guessed to be his bedroom.

"Are you okay Belle?" Claire asked holding the girls hand and using the other to hold the phone to cover themselves.

Annabelle nodded shakily. "Y-Yes Claire…"

Kneeling down to Annabelle's level Claire put a protective arm around the shaking girl. "You don't like storms?"

Annabelle shook her head. "I love s-storms…"

Claire's brows furrowed. "Then what's wrong?"

Annabelle snuggled closer to Claire. "I-I… I don't like the dark…"

"Oh…" Claire suddenly put Wesker's phone closer to Annabelle so that less of the dark covered her.

Suddenly light from a flashlight shone through the room. "Belle. Miss Redfield." Came the smooth voice of Wesker as he walked towards them, in one hand the switched on torch, in the other were two not turned of torches.

"Daddy!!" Annabelle beamed detaching herself from Claire and running over to Wesker where she proceeded in hugging his leg.

Wesker's lips twitched lightly as he handed Claire a torch. "Miss Redfield."

"Wesker." She took the torch and watched as he handed his daughter a torch. "Here." She said giving him back his phone.

Wesker placed the phone in his pocket and used the light from his torch to find the sofa, once he had he lead Annabelle over to the chair and sat her down on it. "Belle." He said in a strangely soft voice. "Stay here with Miss Redfield. I will be back shortly."

Annabelle looked sad but nodded. "Okay Daddy…" she gave him a hug before he rose and looked at Claire.

"I'll watch her." she smiled moving to sit next to Annabelle.

Wesker nodded then left the room.

"So." Claire smiled. "What do you want to do while we wait?" Just as she spoke the sound got softer, and the sky began to light up a little.

Annabelle smiled and jumped up. "Let's play in the rain. I'll get my umbrella!" with that she grabbed her torch and ran off to her room.

"Put a coat on!" Claire called out. The last thing she needed was Wesker to come back and find his daughter sick with pneumonia.

X

"Hee hee!!" Annabelle giggled as she jumped into a puddle that was on their hotel room's balcony. Her little pink boots became wet as she jumped into the puddles.

Claire grinned and held onto the black umbrella Annabelle had bought out, she tried to have it cover both of them, even if it really wasn't needed because of the cover the balcony had.

"It's raining it's pouring!" Annabelle sang jumping into puddles. "The old man is snoring!" She shrieked in delight as she jumped into a particularly deep puddle and made the water splash high. "He went to bed and bumped his head!"

"And couldn't get up in the morning!" Claire Joined Annabelle at the end of the song.

"Do you like that song Claire?" Annabelle giggled.

Claire nodded. "It used to be one of my favorites." As she spoke she noticed that the rain was beginning to calm down and the sky was clearing more.

XXX

It was a good half an hour before Wesker returned and when he did he was greeted with the sight of a damp Claire and Annabelle sitting on the sofa giggling like they had known eachother their entire lives. His lips twitched. "Belle, Miss Redfield."

"DADDY!" Annabelle leaped off the chair and bolted to her father, her arms latching around his legs. "Where were you?" she looked up at him with large eyes.

"Miss Smith is waiting for us on the helicopter pad." He said in answer.

Annabelle beamed. "YAY! I'll get my bags!" with that she grabbed her torch and ran off to her room.

Claire smiled. "She's such a sweet girl."

"Hn." Wesker gave her a nod in response before, he too, left for his room.

'And so I wait…' Claire mused moving to get her bags.

XXX

Claire remained silent as the three of them walked up the stairs, since the power was still out they had to walk, not that it was very far, considering they were on the floor just below the top but it was still annoying. Especially since Wesker was the only one with the torch because both Annabelle and Claire had two bags, one in each hand.

"Daddy how far?" Annabelle sighed.

"Soon Belle." With that said he stopped and held out the torch to Annabelle. "Here." He said taking the other bag from her, making it so that she was carrying one bag and one torch.

Claire smiled at the gesture, though it was a little unnerving, even if she had seen Wesker do it a few times now.

X

"Elle! Al!" Annabelle grinned as she ran out onto the helipad where a blonde woman and a man covered completely in a black leather suit stood.

"Annabelle!" The women, Elle, cheered as she ran up to the little girl. "It's been a while hasn't it?" she smiled.

Elle was a tall women, about as tall as Claire, her long blonde hair was tied back in a low tie and allowed for several strands to fall down and shape her face. Her attire was a simple black skirt, a white business top, a black blazer and a pair of black heels.

"Uh-Hu!" Annabelle smiled. "Are you and Al taking us home?"

"I dunno." Elle looked back at Al. "Are we taking them home?"

Al was a few meters taller than Elle and his body was covered completely in leather, leather pant, boots and a leather biker's jacket and his face was completely covered by a black biker's helmet, making it impossible to see his face.

"I think we are." Came his deep voice that had a small octave pitch to it that seemed to send off signals in Claire's head.

"Miss Smith, Al." Wesker acknowledged smoothly as he stepped towards them.

"Boss!" Elle grinned. "How nice to se you again!" she paused as though remembering something. "Oh! Um…! Jack called, said he's not going back to work until he wins back the heart of his old lover." She placed her index finger against her other index finger. "Wong called, she wont be back for some time because of an error with her helicopter so no sample." She pressed her index finger against her middle finger. "and lastly Irving wont be at work for a moth due to two broken hands."

At the last one a brow rose above Wesker's brow.

Elle crossed her arms. "Don't give me that look!" Claire was a little stunned at the way the woman was talking to her boss. "It was Al not me!" she pointed at the man dressed in leather accusingly.

Wesker said nothing in response to that, he simply instructed the pair to ready the helicopter.

"Sir!" Elle nodded and headed to the helicopted. "Come one Al! you wont get any work done if you stand there staring at my rear!"

"W-What!?" Al's voice sounded like a shriek. "WHY would I want to stare at YOU!?"

"Because you love me." Elle giggled gesturing for Annabelle to give her the luggage.

"I would never love you!" Al climbed into the pilots seat of the helicopter.

"Denial aint just a river in Egypt!" Elle countered.

Annabelle laughed and looked back to Claire and Wesker. "Come on Claire!" with that said she jumped into the helicopter.

Claire walked up to Wesker. "You have strange subordinates." She commented knowing that subordinates probably wasn't the word she should have used.

Wesker's lips twitched. "So it would seem." Was all he said before he followed Annabelle onto the helicopter.

Claire sighed, she couldn't believe she was about to do this… she was climbing onto the helicopter... to go to Wesker's house…

A/N: This chapter took a lot to write… ^^; thank you Haveyouseenmyghost you're idea's continue to inspire me ^^

And thank you everyone who is suggesting ideas to me! they really are helping!

…Review?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Chapter five =3

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil

Chapter five

Arrival at Wesker's

Claire looked down at the city below them as the helicopter flew above it. 'It looks so different from this angle…' she thought angling herself so that she could get a better look. She was sitting in the helicopter beside Wesker who was sitting between her and Annabelle- there was no special reason for their seated order, it had just happened.

'It all looks so strange from up here…' she thought to herself as she looked down at the city. She grinned. "A lot of people have pools…" she commented, not realizing she had said it aloud.

"I don't see the attraction to having a pool on the roof," Elle spoke in response to Claire's words. "I mean what if ya run around the pool and slip right off the edge of the building??" she waved her had dismissively. "You go splat! That's what happens!"

"Ouch." Annabelle frowned before curling at her fathers side, even after the nap in the car she was still a little tired.

"That is what a railing is for Elle." Al commented humor lacing his voice, his somewhat octave voice… a voice that continued to send signals off in Claire's mind- only she couldn't pin where she had heard his voice before.

Claire blinked. She had said that aloud? 'Oh well.' She shrugged before looking back down at the city. Though, at the sound of rummaging she turned back to see Wesker pulling a laptop out of a black case. 'Laptop?' she stared at him for a few moments and watched him click open the black device. 'Is he going to work?' she found it a little bizarre for him to do any kind of work with Annabelle, let alone herself there.

'Then again it's not like I can steal anything.' She thought before turning back to the scenery.

"Miss Smith." Wesker said smoothly causing Elle to turn back to him, at the sight of the laptop she spoke before he even had the chance to say anything.

"Irving is on sick leave because of two broken hands- as well as one broken arm." She paused for a moment as though in thought. "Oh! He also has a broken nose!" she added as an afterthought, in a voice that was far too cheerful for Claire's liking.

One of Wesker's eyebrows raised over his glasses. "Oh?" was all he said.

Elle nodded. "Yeah." She let out a chuckle and pointed to Al. "He did it. I was talking to Irving about shipping some cargo when the pervert suddenly groped my rear and the next thing I knew Al was on him like stink on a warthog." She chuckled again. "I'm glad Al didn't have a gun on him, he may have actually hit his target that time."

Al's head shot to Elle and if Claire could see the man's face she had the distinct impression that he would be glaring at the blonde-haired lady. "I am MORE than capable of hitting a target."

"Al you about as capable as a rookie when it comes to hitting a target," she giggled. "…sure you can aim right, but whenever you actually fire your weapon you miss!" Shaking her head she continued. "It's a little depressing to think that someone like you has such terrible gun skills- considering you HAVE had military training." She giggled and moved back in her seat to dodge the punch thrown at her.

Claire stared at the pair. 'What are they?' she couldn't help but think. They were such strange people, ESPECIALLY since they were working for Wesker- you think the man would have the exact opposite of those two working for him. 'Speaking of Wesker…' she looked over at the man who was typing at his laptop.

"I thought you were on vacation?" she crossed her arms and looked at him. She knew she had no right to talk to him like that, however wasn't he supposed to be spending time with his daughter?

Wesker turned his head to face her. A brow raising above his glasses. There was a moment of silence before he gestured to Annabelle who was curled up beside him like a content sleeping cat- it was actually really cute the way her little arms were wrapped around his waist.

"Oh." She understood his silent message of 'she's asleep I can do what I want' she looked away for a few moments before turning back to him. "Aren't you worried I might read something that I'm not supposed to?" she held back a smile as she heard Elle let out a chuckle at her comment.

"Miss Redfield." Wesker began smoothly. "Might I remind you that at any given moment I can simply 'throw' you out of the helicopter?" There was no malice in his voice, everything he had said was a fact and both parties knew it.

Claire smiled apologetically for a split second before glaring at him. "If you did that Chris would hunt you down."

He made an amused sound. "Miss Redfield, your _dear _brother already hunts me." he closed his laptop and watched her almost expectantly.

She was silent for a few moments before her glare hardened. "It would just give him more of a reason to kill you-" whatever else she was going to say was cut off as Elle whipped her torso around the chair to look at them.

"_You're _that Redfield Chris's sister!?" When Claire nodded slowly Elle's head shot to Wesker with a look that said. 'What the hell is she doing here!?'

"Is there a problem Miss Smith?" Wesker calmly replied with a raised brow, though there was a tone in his voice that made Claire feel a little bad for Elle- Wesker sounded pretty annoyed.

Elle's eyes widened for the briefest of moments before she shook her head. "I apologize." Slowly she inched towards Claire, her chest hanging over the seat as she extended her hand to her.

Claire smiled though it was a little unnerving that someone who worked under Wesker was apologizing to her, but she supposed it could have been worse. "I accept." She shook the blonde's hand.

Grinning Elle sat back down in her chair and looked at Al. "Oh don't you give me that look you overgrown monkey." Even though Claire could not see the man's face, for some reason she could envision the man looking highly offended by the comment.

"M-Monkey!!?" Al spluttered his grip on the controls not wavering. "How DARE you refer to me as a MONKEY! I am Al-"

"Yeah, yeah." Elle interrupted waving her hand dismissively. "We've all heard it before, we don't need to hear it again." She pulled a face and looked at him. " 'I am Al, I work for Wesker! FEAR ME!' " she impersonated him with a grin.

Al snorted and turned back to the controls.

Claire sat in her spot wide-eyed. Something about what he had said scared her a little, she didn't know what it was but something in that sentence had sent warning flares off in her mind…

"Um…" she tried to distract herself by turning her attention back to Wesker. "Annabelle is really tired isn't she?" it was hard to think of something to say to the man so she figured go with something that they could both remotely relate to- his daughter.

"Hn." He looked down at the girl whose arm was wrapped around his midriff. "She is only asleep to hasten the trip home."

Claire nodded as she attempted to envision his home, for some reason she couldn't see it being very child friendly place… and then there was his dog… "Wesker." She crossed her arms and waited for some sign that he was listening to her. At his raised brow she continued. "Your dog… it isn't really a licker is it?"

At that his brow rose higher. "Miss Redfield, what do you think?"

XXX

"Ugh this is so boring!" Elle groaned kicking her heels off before lifting her feet onto the dashboard. "How long to go?"

"You sound like a two-year-old." Al replied bluntly. "We should be there soon."

Elle huffed. "Right, last time you said that we arrived at our destination seventeen hours later."

Something in that statement made Claire feel a little concerned- could she really take being locked up in a helicopter with Wesker for seventeen hours?

As if knowing exactly what was going through her mind Wesker spoke calmly. "We will be arriving in an hour." This made Claire let out a sigh of relief she didn't even know she was holding.

XXX

"Ah!" Elle jumped in her seat and looked out of the window. "We're here!" she clapped excitedly. "It's about time too, I need to stretch my back."

Claire leaned over to look out the window. For some reason the house wasn't exactly one she would expect Wesker to stay at, let alone live in. The house was a double story stone cottage which was surrounded by 'Christmas' trees- it looked like one of those snow cottages that one would see in a movie. Heck, the only thing that remotely made Claire think of Wesker was the fact that there was no road leading to the house, which was a given for Wesker considering he probably didn't want people driving/snooping around his house.

"…It's nice…" she commented taking in the mountains and forest surrounding the house.

"It serves its purpose." Came Wesker's cool reply to a comment that probably didn't need a response.

Claire looked back at him with a raised brow. " 'Serves its purpose'?" she crossed her arms. "I don't think that spending time with your daughter is a 'purpose' I would call it 'family time' or at least a time to relax your body and mind." Honestly for some reason she felt a little offended from the way he had said that.

Something akin to a chuckle escaped Wesker's lips. "You misunderstand me Miss Redfield."

She pursed her lips. "Oh and how do I 'misunderstand' you?" there was a smug tone to her voice- the tone had unofficially been dubbed 'The Redfield Smug' by Jill.

His lips twitched at her tone and at the fact that were this any other situation he probably would have stuck her for the tone. He gestured to Annabelle who was beginning to stir.

It took a few moments for Claire to understand just what the gesture had meant but when she did she looked away from him to hide her smile- the house served a purpose alright and it was for a father and daughter. It was a little strange to even consider Wesker being so caring… "I see." She said before deciding it was a good idea to just watch the helicopter land rather than converse with him.

"Mmmm…" Annabelle's little hands moved up to her face to rub at her eyes. "Are we nearly there?" she let out a yawn while she arched forward in a stretch.

"We are." Wesker replied coolly before gesturing to the window beside Annabelle.

"Hm?" While on Annabelle's side it was impossible to see the house the girl seemed to instantly recognize the area. "We're home!!!" she cheered bouncing in her chair. She turned and grinned at Claire. "You'll get to meet Licker Claire!!"

Claire gave the girl a small smile, knowing it was best not to inform the girl just _how _excited she was to meet _Licker_.

"Hold onto yer seatbelts we're landing now." Elle called back as the helicopter jumped lightly. "I hate when it does that…" she grumbled under her breathe.

XXX

"We're home!!" Annabelle jumped happily along the side of the helicopter as she waited for the others to climb out- a positive to sitting by the helicopters door was that she always got out first.

Elle walked up to the bouncing girl. "Hee hee, you seem happy." She grinned then stretched her back to remove the kinks.

Annabelle grinned. "I am!!" giggling she flopped back onto the snow covered ground and spread her arms and legs out. "Angel!" she shouted before proceeding to make a snow angel in the snow. "Claire make a snow angel with me!!" she called out as she noticed that the Redfield was making her way out of the helicopter.

Claire's head shot up at Annabelle's call. "Sure I'll-" not watching her step she slid of the edge of the helicopter's door and fell forward. "Ah!!" she went to reach for something only to find that it wasn't necessary as she had landed into the arms of the last person she would have expected to catch her.

"Ah!" she felt her cheeks heat up as she realized that she had just made an ass of herself in front of not only Wesker but everyone else as well. "Umm…" she wasn't sure what to say as the man wordlessly set her right. "Thanks…" she couldn't help but feel a little unnerved being this close to him, sure she had sat next to him on the helicopter but this was different… this was…

Wesker inclined his head in acknowledgement before his lips quirked. "Perhaps you should be more inclined to watch where you are stepping," he raised a brow. "I understand that you are captivated by the sight before you but you are of no use if you cannot even walk."

For that comment she glared at him. "Since when do you care about someone's safety?" she countered with. "Perhaps you are getting soft in your old age, Wesker?" she couldn't even if she tried, stop the smile that graced her face.

Wesker was about to retort but decided against it when he felt eyes on him, he turned to see Annabelle sitting up in the snow watching the two intently. "Perhaps Miss Redfield we should continue this later?" with that said he turned from her and headed towards the brown wooden door of his house.

"Boss!" Elle called out to Wesker. "Are you gunna need anything else from us?" she emphasized the 'us' by gesturing to her and Al who was still seated in the helicopter and showed no signs of leaving any time soon.

Wesker turned back to her and seemed to think about her question for a few moments. "You will be required to take Miss Redfield to her home in two days time."

At that Annabelle and Claire's heads shot to Wesker. 'What?' they thought simultaneously.

Elle gave a sloppy salute. "Sir." With a nod she turned to go back to Al. "Oh sir," she turned back to him as though remembering a thought. "Enjoy yourself." She grinned and climbed into the helicopter before he had a chance to respond.

"Ya'all might want to move away from the helicopter now." She grinned at Claire and Annabelle before slamming the helicopter door shut. It was in that moment that the propeller's started.

Hastily Claire and Annabelle ran out of the helicopters way.

"Bye!!" Annabelle yelled out as she waved.

Elle leaned over Al's legs so that she could see them, grinning she waved back.

XXX

"…So this is your house?" Claire looked around as she entered with Wesker and Annabelle. She was amazed by the fact that the house was so clean! The wooden floors practically shining with freshness and there was not a single mar on the walls! Not even a cobweb, which was a little odd given the fact that it seemed as though the pair were rarely there. Unless Wesker stayed there when Annabelle wasn't?

Her silent question was answered when Annabelle shot down the hallway and ran into what appeared to be the living room.

"Miss Annabelle!!" Came a heavily accented voice.

"Rosa!!" Annabelle's cheerful voice echoed through the house.

Claire looked at Wesker. "Rosa?"

Wesker didn't reply, he merely shrugged his shoulders lightly and carried the bags down the hallway after Annabelle. With a sigh Claire followed carrying her own bag.

X

"It has been too long Miss Annabelle, how are you?" The woman, Rosa, appeared to be of Italian or perhaps even Greek background. Her eyes were a shade of onyx and matched her dark hair which was tied back in a bun. She was of a hefty build but it suited her, she had the pretty face of someone who would look strange if they were thin.

Annabelle grinned and hugged the woman. "I am great!! I missed you!" she hugged her tighter. "How is Licker?"

The woman smiled. "Licker is fine, he is in the other room." she gestured to the door on the other side of the living room.

"Miss Rosa." Wesker addressed as he entered the room.

"Mister Wesker!" Rosa straightened herself up. "I trust you had a good flight?"

"Well enough."

It was about this moment when Claire walked in. "Hello?" for some reason she felt a little awkward walking into the room. 'Who is that?' she asked herself as she stared at Rosa.

"Hello!" Rosa smiled at her and extended a hand. "I am Miss Rosa, I am the caretaker of this lovely estate." Holding Claire's hand in a firm grip she continued. "And you are?"

'Well that explains who she is.' She thought looking the woman up and down. "I'm Claire, I'm…" she paused, what could she say? 'I'm Claire and I'm a person who hunts down Wesker and evil companies.'? Maybe not. "…I'm a friend." She didn't even need to turn to know that Wesker was staring at her.

"Nice to meet you Miss Claire." Rosa released her hand.

"Please call me Claire." Claire really hated it when people called her 'Miss' Wesker was an exception because she didn't know if she would be comfortable with him calling her Claire.

Rosa nodded. "If you'll excuse me now..." with that she headed to the kitchen part of the living room.

Claire glanced around the room, it was actually very similar to the way she had envisioned it. There was a great stone open fire which had two long black couches seated near it, beside the couches was a wall made entirely of glass which gave view of the surrounding area. To the other side of the room was the kitchen and beside that was the stairwell which obviously lead to the houses other rooms.

"Licker!" Annabelle's voice broke Claire from her observations and she turned to face the open door that Annabelle had walked through to go to another room. Her heart stopped and her eyes widened as she saw something red flash past the door.

'Oh god I think its an actual licker…' she suddenly felt very unsafe in the house. 'Oh god… oh god… oh-' at the sound of Annabelle's loud squeal she practically bolted to the room, if that thing was attacking Belle…

"L-Licker!! Ah-ha stop!!" Claire come to an abrupt halt when she entered the room… Licker… The Licker was…

"Is that an Irish Setter?" she stared incredulously at the big red dog that was licking the laughing Annabelle's face.

"Naturally Miss Redfield." Claire almost jumped at the sound of Wesker's voice. She turned to see him smirking at her with that all knowing smirk of his. "What did you think him to be?"

Claire stared at him, then at the dog again. An Irish bloody Setter, of all the animals… "You know what I thought…" she muttered weakly glaring at him through the corner of her eyes.

"I'm sure I do." His lips twitched.

Her glare darkened and she went to say something only to be stopped by Annabelle's voice.

"Do you like Licker Claire?" she and the dog looked up at her with large innocent eyes.

Claire looked down at the girl who had her little arms wrapped around the neck of the much larger dog. She had to admit the sight was cute. "I think I do Belle."

"Yay!" Annabelle grinned before letting out another shriek as Licker licked her cheek.

Claire felt herself smile, this was definitely going to be an interesting few days.

A/N: I'm not sure If I'm happy with the ending… oh well I hope you all liked it =D

Review?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I hope you all like the chapter ^^

Disclaimer: Me no own Resident Evil. I own Annabelle, that's about it… seriously… I don't even own Al… or Elle… O_O…

Chapter six

That night

Elle sighed in her seat, her eyes skimmed over the paperwork in her hands. She let out another sigh, she was going to have to do this when she got home… that was really the last thing she wanted to do, normally she didn't mind paperwork but she was tired and the last thing she wanted to do was to go home and do paperwork.

"You're quiet." Al commented, starting the conversation for once.

Elle smiled wistfully. "I think given whom we just escorted with the boss to his house I have every right to be a little quiet." Her voice was soft and there was a strange croak to it.

"I see." Al replied smoothly, his hands moving gracefully across the controls.

There was silence between the two, Al silently maneuvered the helicopter and Elle sat in her seat with her elbow rested on the door and her chin propped in the palm of her hand. With a sigh Elle ended the silence. "I… admit… I was so shocked when I saw her walking with Wesker through the doors to the helipad."

"I would imagine." Al replied, a strange tone to his voice.

She eyed Al for a few moments before continuing. "I'm amazed I didn't burst into tears at the sight of her… or that you didn't leap at her and try to strangle her." It was true, she really was amazed and impressed that Al had held back all urges to strangle 'Her'- in his eyes she would deserve it.

"…I hold no grudges." There was a silence between the pair. "…towards that Redfield at least."

Elle looked almost shocked at his statement. More silence took them, this one lasting longer until Elle's face cracked into a smile. "I suppose I should thank you for that… Claire's the last person I want to see you attacking." She looked away from Al as though she was about to cry. She was. "…I care about Claire a lot… even if she didn't recognize me…" her shoulders visibly shook. "…I don't even know if she remembers me…"

Al's head turned in her direction, an indication that he was looking at her. "Elle." His voice had a serious tone to it. "I doubt she forgot who you are. She probably just had a case of what Wesker has dubbed 'The Redfield Ignorance' I prefer the term 'idiocy' myself considering she failed to recognize my voice."

Elle felt her lips twitch upwards at his statement. She watched the wavy ocean below them for a stretch of time before finally replying with. "I suppose… but Claire is no Idiot…" she shrugged. "…I mean it has been a long time and I have aged a lot… I don't look like the frightened girl I once was…"

"Think what you will." Al spoke coldly before turning back to the helicopter controls.

Elle turned her gaze from the ocean to her reflection in Al's helmet. "Al…"

"Are you ache'n? yum, yum, for some bacon? Yum, yum"

Elle jumped at the sound of her mobile ringing. "Eh?" shifting forward awkwardly she reached into her skirts pocket so that she could pull out her mobile. "It's the boss…" she looked a little stunned as she read the caller I.D on the little screen.

Pressing the answer button she pressed the black device to her ear. "Sir?"

Al's helmet turned to her.

"You want us to do that?" she spoke into the receiver and waited for a response, nodding every now and then as though in agreement with whatever the 'Boss' was saying- not that he could see her. "Do you want us to escort her back with us?"

Al's helmet moved back to face the scenery before them, indicating that he was focusing on the task of piloting- this was good, considering the last thing they wanted was to crash into the water or something because the pilot wasn't doing his job properly.

Elle nodded. "Sir." Another pause. "I understand. We'll take the samples to base when we retrieve them." A much longer pause. "Sir." She nodded again and Al's gloved hand twitched. "I will report when the samples are in my hands sir." With that said she let out another 'sir' and flipped her phone shut.

Al remained silent as Elle placed her phone back in her skirts pocket. "That was the boss." She rested her elbow on the armrest of the helicopter. "He wants us to go and collect the samples from Wong." She smiled. "Whether or not we collect her as well is entirely up to us." A small gleam could be seen in her eyes.

Al continued to be silent for another twenty seconds before he finally spoke. "I suppose that means she will be waiting at the pickup point for the other helicopter?" a smile could be heard in his voice.

Elle smiled. "It would be a terrible waste, for the men already on their way to collect her, to turn up and find out that she's already been collected by someone else. I'd be pretty upset if it was me."

Al's helmet turned to the direction of the helicopter's emergency phone that had the phone number of the people flying the other helicopter in it. Then he turned his head in the direction of Elle and saw her grinning face… he wasn't even going to say what was on his mind.

XXX

"Claire!" Annabelle called as she stood by a glass sliding door that led to the yard, Licker was beside her, his long tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted heavily. "Come outside and play wit me!" with that said she slid the door opened and chased Licker through the snowy ground.

Claire smiled and crossed her arms as she slowly, and somewhat cautiously, stepped outside- she didn't mean to be cautious but considering whose house it was her body seemed to do it instinctively. "It's kinda cold out here." She murmured before glancing at Annabelle who was cupping her glove-covered hands together to collect snow in them.

"I know isn't it great!" Annabelle grinned and scooped a small pile of snow up before proceeding to pat it and roll it into the shape of a ball. She giggled as she did so.

Seeing where this was going Claire cautiously began to sink to the ground. "Oh no you don-" she was cut off as a snowball made contact with her upper arm. "Ah!" she looked down at the white spot on her arm and laughed. "Ooo!! It's on!" giggling she reached out to some snow.

"Ah-ha-ha!" Annabelle let out a squeal before jumping behind Licker who let out a bark. "You can't get me! hee-hee!" she laughed and scooped up more snow and threw it at Claire who was still patting her ball together. She laughed harder as the snow made contact with Claire's shin.

"Ah!" Claire looked down at the snow that was slowly sliding down her leg, leaving a trail of wet behind it. "I'm going to get you for that!" with that said she threw the ball at Annabelle who ducked down resulting in the ball hitting Licker who let out a small whine of protest.

"Oh… sorry Licker…" Claire laughed nervously and scratched her arm.

X

Inside the house Wesker watched the scene through the large windows in the living area. His brow rose and a hint of a smirk touched his lips as he watched his daughter throw a snowball directly at Claire's head. His lips twitched as she wiped the cold substance off before giving Annabelle what had to be the most childish pout.

"I'll get you!" he heard her saw as she leaned down to get some snow- a perfectly normal action, that is, until she raised her arm to throw the ball. His eyes narrowed as she flinched a fraction, but the pain seemed to go away instantly as she grinned and threw the snow at Annabelle who laughed as it skimmed past her shoulder.

"Yoo can't get mwee!!!" Annabelle darted towards a tree laughing at the top of her lungs. "Na! NA! NUN-NA! NA!"

"Sir Wesker." Wesker looked back to see Rosa standing behind him with a spoon in her hands. "What do you wish to have for dinner?"

There wasn't even a pause before Wesker responded with. "The usual Miss Rosa." With that said he turned to continue watching his daughter and Claire. Claire was now running as Annabelle chased after her with Licker and a large chunk of snow.

XXX

Wesker raised a brow and looked up from his laptop as a giggling Claire and Annabelle staggered into the house from the yard- trailing behind them was a puffing Licker. His brow rose higher as he took notice of how wet they were.

"C-Claire!" Annabelle giggled leaning against a wall. "W-We should do dat again!" she broke out into a fit of giggles, trails of melted snow rolling down her flushed cheeks.

Claire let out a small laugh and nodded. "Yes!" she coughed and opened her eyes- it was then she took in Annabelle's flushed face and the damp state of her clothes. "Oh Belle." She sighed not wanting the girl to catch a cold she placed her hand on Annabelle's shoulder. "We should dry you off, we don't want you to get sick."

Annabelle rubbed her wet nose and nodded. "Sure."

Claire looked up and almost jumped when she saw Wesker standing in front of them. "Umm…" she smiled nervously. "Where can we get some towels?" her smile widened.

Lips twitching Wesker turned and gestured for them to follow him. "You need to change Belle." He said bluntly as his daughter slid her wet hand into his gloved one.

"I know Daddy." She smiled up at him and he looked down at her, his lips twitched as he noticed a small drop of water slide down between her eyes.

"We will get a towel then." With that said he headed towards the stairs at the other side of the living room. His hand tightening around Annabelle's in a way that most people wouldn't notice unless they were paying close attention- so naturally Claire noticed and followed after the two with a smile.

The upstairs of Wesker's house was surprisingly simple. The walls were white, the floor was floorboards and the doors were made of wood. Down the hallway there were a total of five doors, two on either side of the walls and one at the very end of the hallway- it was really simple considering what Claire had envisioned Wesker's house to be like.

Wesker stopped in front of the first door on the left. "Miss Redfield." He said bluntly gaining Claire's attention. "This is you're room. Inside is your luggage and towels are in the closet." He pointed to the room beside her's. "This is Annabelle's room," he then pointed to the first room on the right side. "Miss Rosa's room is there should you require anything and the bathroom is the one beside it."

Claire felt the words 'where's your room?' on the tip of her tongue but she not only stopped herself but berated herself for even considering asking- especially since it was obvious that his was the one at the end of the hall.

Claire smiled. "Thanks." She slowly opened the door and walked into 'her room'. The room was fairly simple, there was a double bed beside resting at the wall opposite the door, above it was a window with a view of the surrounding forest. On the wall to the left of Claire was a large closet which Claire guessed might be walk-in, and on the floor in front of the closet was her luggage.

"It's nice.." Claire turned back to Wesker. "Thank you." she received a nod in response before he turned and followed Annabelle into her room.

Claire sighed and closed the door behind her. "Time to get cleaned up."

XXX

Claire placed her somewhat damp towel on the edge of the bed and smiled. She loved feeling dry after playing in the snow. Reaching to her bag she placed her light blue pajamas out to rest on the bed for when it was time for her to sleep. Smiling she turned and left the room to go and find Annabelle.

'Her rooms next to mine…' she thought closing her door behind her. She took a quick glance around the hallway before turning and walking towards Annabelle's room- which the door to was wide open, revealing a scene to Claire that made her smile.

"Daddy I need some help." Came Annabelle's muffled voice as she struggled to get a shirt on. Her arms were up and the shirt was stuck on both arms making it almost impossible for her to push the shirt down her body. Her little hands flailed about in the sleeves as she called out for help.

Claire watched as Wesker let out something akin to a snigger and knelt down to her level. His arms stretching out to grasp the ends of the shirt.

"Are yoo laughing at me Daddy!?" Annabelle's little indignant voice sounded so adorable in Claire's opinion.

"Of course not Dear." Claire watched with a gape as Wesker smiled. SMILED! Not a 'I'm going to kill you' smile. A real god damn smile! Her eyes remained wide as Wesker's smile widened and he pulled the shirt down revealing Annabelle's grinning face.

"Tank yoo Daddy!" Smiling sweetly she wrapped her little arms around her father's neck. Claire felt as though she should move away from the scene so she did, but not before seeing Wesker return the hug.

X

It was less than a minute later when Wesker left the room and entered the hallway where Claire was standing pretending to have just left the room. "Miss Redfield." He said with a incline of his head- his brow rose at the small blush on her cheeks.

"Wesker…" Claire offered him an almost shy smile and passed him to go see Annabelle.

Wesker remained still in the hallway for a few moments before shaking his head and headed downstairs.

"Belle?" Claire stepped into the girls room to see Annabelle sitting on the end of her bed looking at her. "Hello Belle." She smiled and briefly glanced around the girl's room.

Annabelle's bed was placed next to the wall on the right, close to the door. On her bed was a pale blue blanket with a teddy pattern on it. The room had a wardrobe similar to the one in Claire's room and against the walls on the floor of the room was toys of all different shapes and sizes- a typical little girls room.

"Hello Claire." Annabelle smiled and swung her feet back and forward. "Do yoo like your room?" she asked as an afterthought.

Claire nodded. "Yes, it's very comfy." She paused for a moment. "May I come in?"

Annabelle giggled. "Of course." With that said Claire walked into the room and looked around.

"You have a cute room." she said with a smile moving to sit on the edge of the bed- it was then she noticed a black photo frame on the bedside table. "Who is this?" She asked holding the photo out to Annabelle.

"Hm?" Annabelle looked back for a few moments before replying. "Dats my mommy." Her smile faltered a little bit. "Daddy gave it to me last year at Christmas." She slid across the bed so that she could sit next to Claire.

Claire looked down at the woman in the photo- she looked so normal! She wasn't a big busted blonde that Claire had envisioned. Annabelle's mother had long, thick wavy hair and dark eyes and seemed to be Spanish, her lips were normal sized and curved into a smile and she was wearing a light blue blouse. The only thing Claire found strange about the photo was that Annabelle looked nothing like her mother. Her mother had dark hair and olive skin while Annabelle was fair. Her mother had dark eyes and Annabelle had green- they were the exact opposite of each other!

"She's very pretty." Claire commented smiling at Annabelle who smiled in return.

"Tank yoo." She took the photo from Claire and placed it back on back on the bedside table. "Let's go downstairs!" she clasped her hands together in glee. "Dinner should be ready soon!" with a grin she practically dragged Claire down the stairs.

XXX

Dinner was just a simple bowl of spaghetti bolognaise with wine for Claire and Wesker and chocolate milk for Annabelle- though Claire secretly wanted some too. Dinner flew by and when they were finished Annabelle decided that she wanted to watch a movie. So Wesker and Claire were seated at the sofa with Annabelle fiddling with the DVD player. She had chosen the Gene Wilder version of 'Willy Wonka'.

Claire glanced at Wesker through the corner of her eyes. She was still trying to get her mind around what was happening. Here she was about to watch a movie with Wesker. The thought should have scared her more that it did.

"There!" Grinning Annabelle presses play and plops herself between Claire and her father.

"You know Belle." Claire began looking down at the girl. "It's a little funny that you picked this movie."

Annabelle's brow furrowed. "Why?" she asked.

"Because it's one of my favorites." Claire watched as a grin formed on Annabelle's face- it wasn't a lie, it was one of Claire's favorites.

"Yay!" Annabelle clapped her hands together. "I wanna marry Charlie!"

Claire smiled and had to hold back a giggle as she watched one of Wesker's brows rise. "You know what! When I was your age I wanted to marry ." Claire crossed her arms. "My brother, Chris, used to make fun of me because of it though- he used to say I had a thing for blondes." As soon as she realized what she had said she did everything in her power not to look at Wesker, but she still caught his brow rising higher and his lip twitching.

Annabelle smiled. "It's okay Claire." With that said they went about watching the movie.

X

"She's so cute." Claire commented as she looked down at the little girl who had her arms wrapped around Wesker as she slept against his upper arm. 'It's hard to believe he has such a cute daughter.' She thought as she pushed herself from the chair- the movie had long since finished.

"Hn." Wesker replied as he gently lifted the girl so that he could carry her back to her room.

"You know..." Claire began as they headed towards the stairs. "I used to think the idea of you showing any form of compassion or care absurd. But now…" she paused halfway up the stairs. "…after seeing you with Belle, it seems almost natural."

"…Is your opinion of me changing Miss Redfield?" there was a certain smugness to his voice.

"No!" Claire defended herself and continued walking. "I still think you're an evil Tyrant, but now I know that when it comes to your daughter you change into something more human- if only for her." she stood by her door and watched him walk up the stairs. "…I…I respect you for that."

At that statement Wesker paused for a moment, whatever he was thinking Claire couldn't tell. "Goodnight Dear Heart." He said finally with a bow of his head before walking into Annabelle's room and closing the door behind him.

Claire's eyes went wide. 'Dear Heart!?' her mind screamed at her- she could still remember the last time he had called her that. It had been when she had found out that he had taken Steve… her eyes widened. "Steve…" her eyes watered and she walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She didn't want Wesker knowing that she was going to cry.

XXX

"There's the bitch in the red dress." Elle pointed as Al guided the helicopter onto the helipad in the middle of a forest. It was rather difficult to land as not only was it now midnight but the area was almost black- thank god they had their lights. As soon as the helicopter was landed Elle began unplugging herself. "You coming out with me?"

Al nodded and opened the helicopter door. The pair jumped out and walked over to Ada who was standing under a nearby tree- she was dressed in her usual red attire.

"You got the sample?" Elle called out as they walked to Ada who was giving them her best look of indifference. With a small snort she threw a phial containing a strange liquid to Elle who caught it effortlessly.

There was a stretch of silence as Elle inspected the phial. She suddenly snorted and looked up at Ada. "Are you trying to joke with me? Is this all?" she held up the phial that was only filled to the one quarter mark. She raised her brow at Ada and waited for her response.

Al stood silently behind her.

Ada glared at her. "It was a hard sample to collect." She crossed her arms. "Be grateful you got that."

Elle's eyes narrowed dangerously, there was something the 'bitch' wasn't telling them. "Where's the rest Miss Wong?" she spoke calmly in a tone that scarily reminded Ada of Wesker.

Ada pushed herself from the tree and stepped calmly to a point that was a little further away from Elle. "That's all there is." She then stepped towards the helicopter. "It's all I could get."

"Al." Elle spoke calmly. "Please restrain Miss Wong." Before Ada had a chance to respond Al was behind her holding her arms back leaving her only to squirm in an attempt to get loose- it failed.

"I'm not an idiot Miss Wong." Elle explained as she reached into her jackets inner pockets where she put the sample away before reaching for something else. She slowly pulled out an old and worn red head band and placed it on her head. The headband was small and it was surprising that it fit on her head, but the strange thing about it was that it had traces of blood on it.

"Hold her Al." Al did as he was told and held Ada tighter as Elle calmly pushed her hand down Ada's dress in the area between her breasts. Ada watched in horror, it was as though Elle had become a different person! She was cold and had no expression on her face- it was a little frightening.

"I knew you were lying Miss Wong." She spoke as she pulled out a phial that was three quarters full and contained the same sample that Ada had already given Elle. "What did you intend to do Ada? Sell the sample to another player? By rights I should punish you." she slowly stepped back and placed the sample with the other one. "But I shall leave that to Wesker." She took off the headband as she said this.

Al released Ada and followed after Elle who was heading towards the helicopter. "Oh and Ada!" Elle's voice returned to its old self. "You're going to wait here for the other chopper and if you even think about using your grapple gun I'll kill you myself!" with that said she hopped into the helicopter as Al began to operate it.

"…Who are you?" Ada narrowed her eyes and watched the helicopter fly away. "That headband… It looks just like…" her face contorted. "No…" she shook her head. "It's not possible."

A/N: Sorry it's been a while! I've been so busy!

Review?


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update! My computer died and I lost all of my stories... *sobs* (you're all probably going to kill me for this chapter but I need to write this to help with the story line a little, so basically its a flashback chapter. It will have partners but they will all pop up at random intervals so expect the normal story next chapter! =D *dodges pitchforks*)

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil

Chapter 7

Maria Sera

"Albert Wesker." Behind his glasses Wesker's eye twitched lightly at the Russian accent speaking his name. Slowly he raised his head from the magnifier he was using to look a sample, and turned to see Sergei standing in the doorway to the Umbrella lab he and Birkin were currently working in.

William Birkin chose to ignore the Russian in favor of looking at his samples- at least until he was addressed, which he hoped wasn't soon.

Fate it would seem was not on Birkin's side as Sergei took another step into the lab and spoke his name. "William Birkin." Holding in an annoyed sigh Birkin turned from his work and waited for Sergei to continue.

Sergei was silent for a few moments before his thin lips slowly formed something of a smirk. His one gray eye watched them intently as he spoke. "I would like you both to meet your new assistant-" before he could finish Birkin stepped forward in protest.

"Assistant!?" he waved his hand lightly. "We don't need any more Assistants! The last one was _more _than enough of an assistant we'd ever need!" annoyance was laced in his voice as he clenched his fists. He really did not want a new assistant! The last one was stupid enough and had attempted to steal his work; he didn't want another one of them!

A crease appeared in Wesker's brow as if he was thinking, 'Please, be quiet Birkin.' But he didn't say anything, he remained silent.

Sergei's eyebrow rose. "Is that all Birkin?" When Birkin didn't respond his smirk widened. "Now, if I may," he cleared his throat and stepped aside revealing the open doorway. "Miss Sera."

"Yes?" A slightly Spanish accented voice spoke before the sound of heels clicking against the floor echoed through the room. In walked a woman wearing a white lab coat walked in. Her thick dark hair was tied back in a high ponytail and her bangs were pushed behind her ears. Her dark hair matched her onyx eyes and light olive skin, her lips are painted a light red and are curved into a bight smile. Her lab coat reaches just above her knees and is undone, showing the black knee high skirt and white business shirt, as well as her thin legs which are covered by skin toned stockings and on her feet are a pair of black leather low heeled shoes- she looks like a typical scientist.

"This is Miss Maria Sera," Sergei introduced placing a hand on the woman's back. "Your new assistant."

Maria's smile brightened. "Hello Mr. Wesker," she inclined her head in a small bow before glancing at Birkin whose mouth was hanging open a slight fraction, she giggled. "Hello Wil." From the way she was smiling and the fact that she had used a nickname for Birkin instantly told Wesker and Sergei that she was familiar with Birkin.

"M-Maria?" Birkin sounded more than stunned at the sight of the woman. He took a step towards her. "_You're_ my new assistant?!" his voice took an octave tone to it, as though he was scandalized by the very idea of having her as an assistant.

The woman, Maria, nodded in before crossing her arms and raising a brow. "Didn't Annette tell you?" When Birkin shook his head she shrugged. "She must have decided to leave it as a surprise." She laughed. "Sometimes I wonder about that friend of mine."

Just as Birkin was about to retort Sergei spoke. "Miss Sera," he paused and waited for Maria to look at him before continuing. "I trust you will be having a _pleasant _first day, to say the least-" he shot a meaningful glance at Wesker. "-If you do have any troubles, please come and see Me." he turned to leave but then turned back as though remembering something. "And remember we are having our meeting at five when you finish your shift."

Maria smiled and pressed the side of her hand to her forehead in a salute. "Yessir!" she giggled when he returned the smile and the gesture.

Wesker felt somewhat annoyed- he didn't care if they flirted but to do so during working hours irked him. Work was for working, whatever you did after work was none of his concern.

Birkin seemed less than amused by the display.

Sergei straightened himself out and as he looked to Wesker and Birkin his smile was replaced with a frown. "Comrade, Birkin." With that said he turned and left.

Once he was gone Maria turned to the two scientists with the smile she had given Sergei- this led Wesker to believe that it was the way she smiled to everyone. "So," she clasped her hands together. "What can I do for you guys?"

"We don't _need _any assistance with our work." Wesker drawled crossing his arms. Gods he hated assistants, they were all incompetent morons. Every last one.

Birkin at least paused as though thinking of something she could do, but he hated assistants more than Wesker, and even though she was something of a friend to him he still didn't want her touching _his _research. "Sorry Maria," he finally said. "I don't think we have any-" he stopped. He looked at a rather large pile of paperwork then looked back at her. "-actually there is something you can assist us with."

Birkin reached over to the pile of paper and lifted it from the table. "You can fill out this for us." he practically thrust the papers into her arms. "It has to be completed by ten o'clock tomorrow morning." with that said he turned back to his work.

Maria examined the paperwork for a few moments before looking up at the two males. "Are you sure I'm aloud to do this? Write up a report on a drug you were working on?"

Wesker's lips twitched and he turned back to the work he was working on before had Sergei come in. Though he did listen to Maria and Birkin's conversation.

Birkin nodded. "Of course you can." He shrugged. "You are my assistant, so you can do pretty much whatever paperwork is assigned to me."

Maria nodded but continued to argue her point. "But I wasn't even here when the testing took place, _sir_, so how would I know the results and the information required to write up a report of the product testing and results."

Birkin tapped the top of the pile in Maria's hands. "The subject notes and test notes are all there for you to review." with that said he gave her a nod and turned from her to give attention to the beaker he had been previously slaving over.

Maria sighed and moved to sit at the wooden table in the corner of the room. Placing the paper on the table she separated the subject notes from the report pages before reaching for her pen. It was going to be a long day.

XXX

Birkin groaned as he glanced at his watch- it was nearly time for him to finish work. Not that he really wanted to do so, no, if he had his way he would be able to as long as he liked. But after the incident three weeks ago when a worker had fallen asleep and caused an explosion a rule that 'twelve hours is the most a person can work a day' was enforced. Why should he have to suffer for some idiot's mistake!

"It's time for me go.." holding back another groan he poured his beakers contents into several labelled test tubes. "Just put these away..." he murmured as he slid open the storage refrigerator and placed the test tubes inside. Closing the refrigerator door he turned to Wesker.

"See you tomorrow." Wesker nodded in response and Birkin turned to Maria. "Bye Maria."

Maria glanced up from her work and smiled, but it was a little weak. "Goodbye Wil." she then turned back to her work and continued writing, she seemed to be just under the halfway mark in her work- there was a lot of writing to be done and she had been sitting there for seven hours already.

Nodding Birkin left.

And then there was two...

The departure of Birkin hardly changed the events of the room, though what it did do was make the room seem colder and more silent than it had been when he was there and the silence created a tension that could almost be cut with a knife.

Wesker was content with the silence and was, in fact, somewhat irritated when her voice sounded through the room. "Mr. Wesker?" When he didn't respond he felt a hand tap his shoulder.

"What?" It may have sounded like a snap but he didn't care, he looked down at her and waited for her to speak, as it was obvious she wasn't going to leave him alone until he did.

She offered him a smile. "I'm going to make some coffee, do you want some?"

"I don't drink Umbrella coffee." He spoke bluntly- it was true he had decided not to drink the coffee in his first week of working for umbrella after witnessing a man drink it and have his skin instantly turn a vibrant shade of green and his neck swelled like there was a football wedged inside it before dying after one minute- needless to say Wesker didn't quite want to die that way.

Maria smiled for a moment before she reached into one of her jackets inner pockets. "Neither do I." Her smile widened and she pulled out two instant coffee sachets from her pocket.

He raised a brow at her and was silent for a few moments before his lips twitched. "Do what you want." He then turned from her, but she could tell that he was giving her permission to get him one.

"I'll be back in a jiffy!" With that said she hurried from the room, the sound of her heels echoing through the room.

XXX

It was some fifteen minutes later when Maria returned with two mugs of hot steaming coffee. "Senior Wesker." Her voice slipped into her Spanish accent for a moment. "I hope you like it." With a smile she passed him the coffee.

Accepting the drink from her, he looked down at the black liquid in the mug and inhaled. It smelled like coffee, and he doubted she would attempt to poison him… on her first day at least. He placed the mug to his lips and taking a sip of the hot liquid he felt it slide down his throat, it was actually not that bad.

"The verdict?" Maria spoke before taking a sip of her own drink.

"It could have been worse." With a shrug Wesker placed the drink on the bench before turning back to his work.

Maria blinked for a few moments. 'Alright then…' shaking her head she went back to her table in the corner. 'A thank you at least would have been nice.' Resisting the urge to sigh Maria picked up her pen and looked down at the paperwork before her. 'I'm not even half way yet…'

XXX

Taking a look at the clock Wesker began packing up the equipment he had been using. As he did this he took a glance over at Maria who was hunched over the table writing and taking no notice of anything that was going on around her- he supposed that she was at least useful on some level.

She mildly surprised him when she spoke as he just finished putting away the last of the equipment he had been using. "Have a nice evening." She didn't even look up from her work, it seemed as though she was set on completing the work. Then again it was due the next morning.

He gave a curt nod. "Good evening." Before he turned and silently left the room.

Once he was gone Maria looked up from her work. "It's been a long day…" just as she was about to go back to her work she let out a cough. 'Oh no!' one hand flew to her mouth as more coughs followed, the other moving to one of her coats inner pockets.

Pulling out a small bottle of pills she held her lips shut as the coughing became more intense, her cheeks widening like a frogs as she kept her mouth shut. She quickly unscrewed the cap and shook out two red pills. 'Shit!' she was forced to open her mouth and let out a cough before practically throwing the pills into her mouth and swallowing without water.

She coughed for another minute before her body relaxed and the convulsions stopped. "God…" looking down at the umbrella logo on the bottle she murmured. "Thank you Umbrella…" putting the bottle back in her coat she noticed a stain on her hand. A red stain.

"Shit…"

A/N: Sorry it took so long again!! The normal chapters are coming back soon! ^^;


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Back to normal chapter's now! ^^;

Disclaimer: Me no own Resident Evil.

Chapter 8

The end of the holiday

"Claire!" Claire unconsciously let out a groan and pressed her head further into her pillow while pulling the blanket closer to her- she was asleep. "Claire!" the person calling out her name obviously didn't care about that though.

"Urngh…" Claire turned from the source of the voice and snuggled further into the bed. She was comfortable damn it!

"Claaaiiirrrre!" The voice came out in a whine and was accompanied by hands pushing against her blanket covered back. "Wake uuuuuup!" Why did that voice remind her of Chris when they were little? With that thought in mind Claire opened her eyes and groggily turned around, her blue eyes meeting with green.

"Good morning Claire!" Annabelle grinned, her hands behind her back.

"Ung?" Claire rubbed her eyes. "Belle?" she let out a yawn. "What time is it?" she asked as her vision became clearer and less blurred.

Annabelle tilted her head to the side and placed her index finger to her lip as though in thought. "I think Daddy said it was six, I'm not sure." She grinned and grabbed Claire's hand from under the covers. "Come on Claire!" she tugged. "Today is your last full day here!" she jumped up and down impatiently. "Pweese!"

Claire blinked. Six? God she hadn't woken up at six in a long, long time. "S-Sure Belle…" she rubbed her eyes again and pushed herself out of the bed. Stretching her arms and back she spoke. "What did you have planned for today?"

Annabelle grinned and let out an evil chuckle. The chuckle scarily reminded Claire of the girls father and she wasn't sure if that should scare her or not…

The deepness in Annabelle's chuckle increased and she leaned forward so that their noses almost touched. "We're going to play 'hunting Daddy's glasses.' "

For some reason Claire didn't know whether to whimper or to grin…

XXX

Chris sat in living room of their hotel room, his eyes transfixed on the television, his hands were clenched in fists, but other than that there was nothing to hint that he was feeling angry or otherwise.

"_And now for the weather…"_

"Jill…" Jill nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her name- she had been to entranced by watching Chris just star at the television from her spot in the kitchen. She turned to see Leon standing behind her, taking a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

"What Leon?" She asked clutching at her chest as she attempted to ease her breathing from her little shock. "Do you _have_ to sneak up on me like that!" she hissed under her breath.

His lips twitched a little. "Sorry." He scratched the back of his head in a way that made him almost look like a child- Jill thought it looked cute. "I was just wondering how long he's been doing that for." He inclined his head in the direction of Chris.

Jill sighed and looked back at Chris. "Since last night more or less… It's gotten worse today though." She shook her head. "He was fine when Claire left, but now for some reason he's got it into his head that she's left to join with Wesker."

Leon frowned. What would Chris do if he found out where Claire actually was? "Perhaps you should take him out?" Leon suggested with a shrug. "To try and keep him distracted?"

Jill smiled at that. "If it were that easy I would have done it by now." She glanced up at Leon. "Once Chris gets a head on him its near to impossible to get him to focus on anything but what his mind is set on- and at the moment its set on Claire and how he believes her to be 'betraying' him."

Leon felt a pang of guilt at Jill's comment especially since he was more than sure Claire had, in fact, gone with Wesker- actually he was more than sure since after he had had that little conversation with her before she left.

"Have you tried getting him out of the room?" he asked.

Jill sighed. "Yeah, I'll try again soon- he really needs to be out of the hotel for a little while, if only for some fresh air."

Leon nodded in agreement- Chris also needed something of a shave, but he wasn't about to voice that thought. "Do you think he'll come back with us? We're scheduled to leave tomorrow." Personally Leon didn't really want to go home, but he needed to get back to work- even if he hadn't had a very relaxing holiday.

Jill nodded. "He doesn't have much of a choice- The BSAA wants him back the day after he's scheduled to get back." She sighed. "They want me back too- though I don't feel all that rested… I don't think this vacation did what it was supposed to."

Leon nodded in agreement- relaxing was something that he hadn't done much of this holiday.

XXX

Claire tied her hair back in its customary ponytail and looked down at the girl who was watching her expectantly. "Tell me," she began with a raised brow. "why are we stealing Wesker's sunglasses?"

Annabelle grinned. " 'cause I want to." If Claire had had any doubts about Annabelle being Wesker's daughter, they were thrown out the window because of the smile on the young girls face- it was so scarily evil that only a child of Wesker could pull it off.

Claire sighed. "Alright so how are we going to pull this off?"

Annabelle's smile widened and if it was possible, became even scarier.

XXX

Wesker, who was sitting on the sofa of his living room typing on his laptop felt his fingers and eye twitch as he heard a faint giggling from behind him, he resisted the urge to sigh. 'She is going to try it again…' he thought continuing to type- he wasn't sure how or why it had started, but Annabelle had mad it a tradition to attempt to steal his glasses every time she stayed with him. He honestly had no idea why though, considering she had seen his eyes more than any other person who was still living.

The attempt of silent giggling from Annabelle grew softer and suddenly vanished. Wesker raised a brow, it wasn't often that her giggle vanished and he wondered just what she was up to.

He faintly heard the sound of something crawling towards him. 'That would be Annabelle.' He thought with the hint of a smirk.

"Good morning Wesker." Wesker looked up to see Claire smiling at him with a smile that she would have given her brother- not him- his eyes narrowed, she was in on this little game.

"Good morning Miss Redfield." He nodded and watched her walk to the kitchen and take out two mugs.

"Do you want some coffee?" She asked with that smile plastered on her face- what? Did she actually think that was going to fool him? He wasn't her brother, he wasn't that stupid.

"Yes Miss Redfield." Behind his glasses he took a quick scan around the room, but he saw nothing of his daughter- this was a little different, he usually saw some part of her body when she went on one of her 'Steal daddy's glasses missions'.

His eyes suddenly narrowed and locked onto what appeared to be rope in his peripheral vision. He frowned, what was his daughter doing?

Claire stepped towards him with a steaming up of coffee and Wesker noticed how she took a weary, almost fearful glance at the roof, his eyes narrowed further before widening with realisation. So that was what his daughter was doing… clever. Snapping shut his laptop he placed it on the counter to avoid any 'accidents' that may occur in the next couple of minutes.

"Thank you Miss Redfield." He smiled and grinned on the inside when she went pale- though he wasn't sure if her drop in skin tone was because of his smile or because of the fact of what his daughter was currently attempting… either way the fear on her face sent a delicious feeling through his body.

Claire stepped back and glanced up at the roof for a second before glancing back down at Wesker. "You're welcome." She smiled at him, for some reason the smile made him feel a little uncomfortable, why was she smiling kindly at him?

Claire took another glance up at the ceiling and stepped back again. "Would you like anything to eat?" she asked smiling awkwardly.

Wesker didn't even bother to look up at the ceiling as he knew what was about to happen. Especially when he heard the small grunt in the ceiling- if his daughter was doing what he though she was doing he knew she would make an excellent agent one day… if he allowed her to go down that path…

"So Wesker what are the umm plans for-" before Claire could finish her sentence a loud snap was heard and down from the ceiling fell a blob of white and golden blonde, landing directly onto Wesker's lap.

Claire opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything, her eyes went wide.

Wesker looked down at his daughter in his lap who had rope wrapped securely around her- the rope was also loosely hanging from the ceiling. "Belle." He said calmly. "What are you doing?" He held her shoulders and lifted her up so that she sat on his lap.

"Hee hee." Annabelle laughed nervously before grinning. "Thanks Daddy!" with that said she grabbed his glasses, jumped from his lap and ran out of the room, completely ignoring the fact that she was still attached to a rope.

Wesker looked down at the rope pile on the floor and on his lap that was slowly getting smaller as Annabelle ran through the house. Resisting the urge to sigh he gripped the rope and watched with the hint of a smile as the sound of a small thud came into the room.

Claire, realising what Wesker had just done gasped and looked at him with wide eyes. "Wesker!" she all but shouted.

He looked at her bored, his yellowish red eyes boring into hers. "Yes, Miss Redfield?" he drawled trying to hide his amusement at the situation.

"That's your daughter!" she raised her voice. "How could you just let her fall to the ground like that?" she crossed her arms and glared at him.

Wesker raised a brow at her. "She walked into her situation, she chose what happened to her, its her decision so she has to deal with the consequences." He stated flatly rising from his chair.

"Daddy…" a voice groaned from the other room. "Owie…"

Claire gave Wesker a dirty look and walked to the hallway where Annabelle fallen. She frowned at the sight of Annabelle lying face first on the floor. "Hey are you okay sweetie?" she asked kneeling down to the blonde girl's side.

Annabelle looked up at Claire and grinned. "Got yoo Claire!" with a speed the stunned Claire Annabelle jumped up and ran around Claire several times, effectively wrapping the rope around the stunned woman.

"I caught Claire!" Annabelle cheered unclipping herself from the rope and tying a knot so that Claire couldn't get out. "Daddy! Look! I caught Claire!" Annabelle jumped up and down excitedly pointing at the stunned woman on the floor.

Wesker walked down the hallway with his arms crossed. His brow raised and an amused gleam in his red eyes. "My my… the Claire Redfield allowed herself to fall into such a simple trap." His lips twisted into a smirk. "Had I know it was this simple, I would have done it years ago…" he chuckled at Claire's dark glare and Annabelle's confused look.

Suddenly in an action that Wesker really should have seen coming Claire shouts a 'NOW!' as her leg shoots forwards and connects with the side of his. She grins as the force of the kick and him being unprepared sends him falling backwards onto the floor. In those moments Annabelle leaps onto him and situates herself on his chest.

"I won daddy." She grinned pressing her nose to his.

Claire smiled at the display- it was sweet seeing Wesker acting so fatherly, especially since she knew for a fact that were it anyone else Wesker probably would have killed them.

Wesker raised a brow. "What did I tell you about capturing people Belle?" he asked his hands sneaking up her arms.

Claire watched silently.

"What daddy?" Annabelle pursed her lips in thought.

"Always make sure they're tied up!" with that said he lifted her up and flung her in the air while he pushed himself up from the floor. Annabelle squealed in delight as he caught her.

"Daddy! Again!" she cheered as he threw her back into the air.

If Claire hadn't seen it she wouldn't have believed it…

Annabelle cheered and wrapped her little arms around his neck. Wesker turned and while holding her started to walk out of the room. Annabelle placed her head on his shoulder. "I love you daddy." She whispered.

Wesker stopped mid step. He didn't say anything to her, but he did place his hand on her head and rubbed it gently in response. He then continued to walk out of the hallway.

Claire, despite who it was, couldn't help but find the sight to be sweet. Who'd have thought that such a small girl could have any form of effect on a cruel heartless bastard like Wesker?

…It was then that Claire noticed something. "Wesker, Belle! You're not just going to leave me tied up here are you!"

…She could have sworn that she heard Wesker laughing with Annabelle…

XXX

"So Claire's going home tomorrow?" Annabelle spoke as the three of them sat in the living room.

Wesker nodded. "Elle will be arriving with the helicopter to collect her in the morning." He lifted a mug of coffee from the table and took a sip.

Claire remained silent- in truth she kind of didn't want to go… she never thought it would happen, but she kind of wanted to spend more time with Wesker…

"Claire?" Annabelle looked up at Claire with sad eyes. "Yoor going to call me arwent you?" her voice was so small and timid, it made Claire smile a little.

She ran a hand down Annabelle's hair. "Of course I will sweetheart." She smiled. "I'll try to come and visit you as often as possible too." She wasn't sure how well she would be able to keep that promise but she could at least try.

Annabelle smiled. "Yay! I like you Claire." The little girl practically jumped at Claire and wrapped her arms around the Redfield.

Claire returned the embrace and looked up at Wesker, his eyes were shrouded by his glasses, but she could tell by the frown lines that he was in deep thought over something.

XXX

"She's asleep?" Claire spoke as she looked up to see Wesker walking down from the stairs and into the living room.

Wesker nodded. "She has taken a great liking to you.." he spoke calmly- for some reason Claire didn't know if she liked the tone in her voice.

Claire smiled and held out a mug to him. "Coffee?" her smile widened when he accepted and sat on the sofa beside her. "I really like her too, she's a little sweetheart." It was true, she really had grown fond of Annabelle.

"Hn." Wesker replied taking a sip of his drink.

Silence took the pair and Claire took to looking around the room at random objects, as for some reason she couldn't name, she felt uncomfortable looking at him.

"Umm…" she hummed awkwardly. "How come you've put up with me?" she cradled the drink in her hands and slowly swirled the liquid in the mug.

Wesker remained silent but Claire could tell that through his glasses he was staring at her, studying her… something about the thought of him watching her sent a chill down her spine, she didn't know if it was fear or if it was something else that caused the chill, all she knew was that it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Miss Redfield." He said after a long pause. "the reason I 'put up' with you is rather simple." He leaned forward, as though about to tell her a secret, or grab her by the throat… "My child has grown fond of you, so I have no intention of murdering you in her presence…" something about that statement made Claire feel happy, it was nice to know that the bastard had heart enough not to kill her around a child. "I also 'put up' with you Miss Redfield, because as fun as it would be to kill you, I have no intention of doing so whilst your beloved brother is not present."

Claire looked at him with wide eyes, sure she had expected something like that from him, she just hadn't well, _expected _that. She suddenly felt as though her life was in danger, and the look on his face wasn't helping to remove the feeling. She slowly rose to her feet and backed away from him and the chairs.

"Goodnight Wesker." She said with a slight tremble in her voice, before quickly taking off and up the stairs to her room.

XXX

"I don't want yoo to go Claire!" Annabelle all but wailed as Claire walked out of the house with her suitcases.

"I don't wanna take her, but the poor girl has work." Elle called from beside the helicopter where she and Al were waiting for Claire.

Annabelle looked at Claire sadly.

Claire returned the sad expression. "I wish I could stay a little longer too, but Elle's right, I have things to do." She put her suitcases on the ground and kneeled down in front of the girl. "I will call you, I promise." With that said she hugged Annabelle who happily returned the embrace.

"Miss Redfield." Claire looked up to see Wesker standing near them. "I wish to speak with you." With that said he turned and walked towards the forest surrounding the house.

Claire gave his back a strange look before glancing back at Annabelle. "I'll be right back, okay?" When Annabelle nodded Claire rose and chased after Wesker.

X

Claire walked into the tree-filled area where Wesker had entered, she had to admit she felt a little uncomfortable about this, especially after what Wesker had said last night. Did he intent to kill her now? Where no one would see it? "So Wesker," she began uneasily. "what did you want to-" before she could finish her sentence she found herself pinned against a tree with hot lips against hers.

'WHAT IS HAPPENING!' her mind screamed as her hands flew to his shoulders to push him away.

Wesker pushed her further into the tree and his tongue all but forced her mouth open.

'This is Wesker!' her mind screamed at her and she made another attempt to push him away.

Wesker instead held her tighter and his tongue claimed her mouth.

'This is…' her mind gave up and her hands that were pushing against him, were now clinging to him…


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: me no own.. -_-

Chapter 9

A month later

Claire sighed and walked out of her TerraSave office- it had been a month since the incident at Wesker's house and not a day had gone past without her thinking about Annabelle, the events at the house… or the…kiss…

Feeling her face heat up Claire shook her head. NO! she was not going to think about that kiss, she wasn't going to think about how warm it made her feel or how light headed she felt and she was definitely not going to think about how the smug bastard had just smirked at her then walked back to the helicopter without even saying anything to her!

"Miss Redfield?"

'Smug bastard!' she inwardly fumed.

"Miss Redfield?"

Claire let out a low growl. 'Who kisses someone who is their enemy then walks off like nothing happened!' If she found it in herself to believe everything else, then the one the she couldn't fathom was the fact that he had just walked back to the helicopter and just acted completely casual as though nothing had happened!

"Miss Redfield!" Claire jumped and looked behind her where a TerraSave employee was standing.

She smiled nervously. "Sorry, what can I do for you?"

The man held out a file to her. "Your next job." He passed it to her. "You need to go to a Tricel building for a routine inspection." He paused for a moment as Claire opened the folder and looked at the paperwork. "Its just going in and looking around, you know making sure they're doing everything according to regulations and such."

Claire nodded and closed the folder. "Anything else?"

The man paused for a few moments as though thinking. "Oh! You'll be meeting a BSAA man- you should know him, Chris Redfield, he'll be looking through the building with you."

Claire eyes widened. "Chris is coming with me?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, don't ask me why BSAA had to send someone with you- they called us and just HAD to send someone-" the man trailed off on a tangent about how BSAA always had to have their way and how they never considered anyone but themselves.

Claire winked at the man, turned and started to walk towards her Terrasave company car. "It's okay, it'll be nice to see Chris again." She hopped into the car and drove off, not even noticing that the man was still talking…

X

After an hour of driving Claire pulled into the car park of the Tricel building- she stepped out of her car and looked around for any sign of Chris. 'Maybe he's inside…' she thought for a moment before deciding to call him- she wasn't going to wait outside for him if he was already inside.

Pulling out her phone she quickly dialled Chris. 'I hate waiting for him to answer.' She inwardly growled as the ring sound touched her ears.

"_Hello? Is that you Claire?"_ she heard Chris' voice say.

Claire smiled, at least he answered quickly this time- her mind went back to a time where he wouldn't answer at all. "Hi Chris- I was just wondering where you are? I'm waiting outside the Terrasave building for-" she was cut off by Chris speaking to someone on the other side of the phone.

"_What's that?" _She heard him say. _"No I would not like to give up my gun I have a permit for it." _She heard some paper fumbling and some woman saying 'sir' on the other end. _"I don't bloody care, I'm not giving it up."_

Claire sighed. "Really Chris…?"

"_Don't you start on me Claire!" _she heard him growl.

"Chris just give them the gun, its just a check in." Claire sighed hoping she heard him. "Would you go into a primary school with a gun?" She started to walk towards the main office, knowing that was exactly where he was.

"_Claire, this is not a school, this is a company, do you not remember Racoon city?"_

Claire frowned and thought of the scar on her hip that she had received courtesy of William Birkin- how could he say that, of course she bloody well remembered Raccoon city! "Chris, just give the gun." With that said she hung up and increased her pace.

'Bastard, who does he think he is!' her face darkened. "Bringing up Racoon city like that…." She mumbled and shoved her phone into her pocket- it was going to be a long day, she could already tell.

X

When Claire walked into the building she was met with the sight of a grumbling Chris being patted down by security guards. She let out a sigh and slowly walked over. "Chris? What happened?"

Chirs's head shot up and he looked at Claire. "Claire! They took my gun!" in that moment Claire was instantly reminded of the time when they were kids and their mum had taken his toy rifle away because he had been chasing children and elderly with it.

"Christopher Redfield, really?" she crossed her arms and raised her brow- not realising just who she seemed to remind him of.

He shrunk away from her. "I need to have my gun with me Claire." His voice dropped down to a sulk which caused Claire to sigh and roll her eyes.

She looked at the guards. "I can watch him now, thanks." The two men paused for a moment and looked at her, then they looked down at Chris before shrugging and letting him go.

"Just call us if you need us." They said walking back to the stationed spots in the room.

"Claire…" Chris glanced at her with apologetic eyes.

Claire waved him off. "Come on I need to sign in." the two walked up to the main desk where a woman with red hair in a suit with caked on make up sat.

"Are you the Terrasave lady?" she asked looking up. "Miss…." She glanced down at her notepad. "…Redfield?"

Claire smiled and nodded. "Where do I sign in?"

The woman pointed to a pad of paper in front of her. "Just there." As Claire leaned down to write she added. "Please deposit all weapons into this container and you'll get them back on your way out."

Claire smiled. "I didn't bring any weapons, but if I may where do you store them?"

"Asking questions already, sharp." The woman replied. "We store all visitors weapons in the safe just behind me," she pointed to a large rectangular steel safe that had one guard standing in front of it. "the combination to this vault is only known to myself and two others in this complex."

Claire nodded, it seemed safe enough. "But what if someone came in here with a gun and ordered you to open the safe?"

The secretary smiled. "Well with the guard standing in front of it, the two guards on each side of the room and the turret system in the corner over there… do you really think anyone would last long if they tried?"

Claire and Chris turned and nearly jumped when they saw the turret staring at them.

'…creepy…' Claire thought staring at the machine. She didn't know whether to take it in a good or bad way that there was a turret system in place. She hastily pulled out her folder and jotted down a note about the guests weapon storage. "Do I even want to ask about the security's weapon storage?"

The secretary grinned.

X

"These are our level 3 labs." The secretary explained as they walked through a white hallway. "Any member of this facility has access to these areas."

Claire looked at the scientists through the glass windows as they walked down the hallway- everything was so white and clean- and she could tell they were careful with their security, it seemed that almost every room had two security guards stationed- she supposed what happened at Racoon had some benefits to how companies ran.

"Research on basic medical supplies are done here- depressants, anti-biotics, etc."

Claire glanced at Chris, he seemed to be observing everything closely she almost expected him to start demanding random things, but it had been ten minutes and he hadn't said a thing- something of a miracle really.

"The main dining hall, staff lounge and other such facilities are also available here."

"By anyone." Chris interrupted glancing into one of the rooms. "Do you mean that anyone can just walk in and have a look?"

Claire sighed. 'Really Chris? Pay attention…'

The secretary sent Chris a look. "Unless you have a Tricell employee clearance you cannot just waltz in and have a look, if that is what you meant."

Chris nodded and went back to glancing around the hall and through the viewer windows. Claire felt for him, she really did but he needed to settle down, nothing was going to happen and even if it did he wouldn't be able to do much about it if he was worked up from paranoia.

The secretary stopped at an elevator and hit a button next to the doors which caused a small monitor to flash on with a ding. She looked back at Chris and Claire. "This is an electronic map of the complex." She pressed the monitor. "Here is where we are." He pointed to the screen and gave the two time to look before sliding her finger across the screen causing the map to move until she found what she wanted.

"These areas that are marked red are our restricted areas- private files on our staff and projects are kept in these areas. Access to these areas are highly strict and only a select few people are aloud here." She smiled at them and moved the map. "Here is the-"

"Can we see these 'restricted areas'?" Chris asked.

The secretary frowned. "I'm sorry sir, only three people have access to the area- anyone else has to fill four piles of paperwork and wait six months for clearance." She pointed back to the map. "Now here is-"

Chris was clearly in the mood for an argument, as he proceeded to argue with the woman as to why he couldn't go into the areas- he then somehow ended up ranting about the 'bastard scientists' back in Racoon and the kind of things they had stored in their 'restricted areas'. Claire sighed it was going to be a long day… and she was right.

XXX

Claire sighed as she waited out the front of the Tricel building, Chris was going over some paperwork with the secretary so Claire had decided to wait outside for him- she had everything she needed and while she could understand Chris being paranoid and what not but he didn't need to be as rude as he was being.

At the sound of clicking heels Claire looked over to the car park to see two familiar people. "Elle?" Claire creased her brow and walked over.

Elle jumped at the sound of her name and looked away from the black motorcycle she was standing beside with Al. "Claire?" she grinned and walked over to her. "How are you darling?" as she reached Claire she gave her a gentle touch on the shoulder.

Al nodded to Claire.

"I'm okay," Claire smiled. "just waiting for Chris- what are you two doing here?"

Elle removed her hand and gestured to a file that was tucked under her other arm. "Just picking up some paperwork- when I'm not doing stuff for the boss I work as a secretary for Tricel, helps fill in the boredom."

Something pulled at the back of Claire's neck at that statement. "So you don't just work for Wesker…" Something was itching at her- it was really odd that a person working for Wesker would work at a pharmaceutical company in their 'free time'.

Elle smiled. "No, I'm just his driver- I sometimes take his calls when he needs me to." It was a lie, and Claire knew it, but she tried to ignore the feeling as much as she could- something told her Elle wasn't really a bad person.

"So Claire," Elle began redirecting the discussion. "How do you feel about getting a coffee and having a catch up?"

Claire smiled, trying her best not to think about why they were there and why the repercussions going to 'coffee' with them could have. "I would like that."

Al suddenly sat on the motorbike. "Elle, we need to go now."

Elle frowned but nodded. "Alright." She smiled apologetically at Claire. "How about we do this another day? I'll give you a call." She winked at Claire and jumped onto the bike, waving goodbye as it roared off.

Claire smiled and waved. "Claire!" Claire jumped at the sound of Chris's voice and turned to see him. "Yes Chris?"

Chris looked pissed as he ran to her. "You know them!"

Claire frowned confused. "Yes?" he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards his car. "Get in!" he shouted pushing her towards the passenger side.

"Chris what the hell is going on!" Claire glared at him as she climbed into the car.

Chris started the car and drove after the bike. "That woman works for Wesker!" he growled, his foot slammed onto the accelerator.

Claire jumped as the car swerved out of the way of another car. "How do you know that!" 'Oh god Chris calm down, we're gunna hit something!' she inwardly screamed, flinching again as he dodged a pedestrian.

"I've met the bitch." Chris replied calmly his foot pressing the accelerator harder.

X

"Umm…" Elle looked behind them and her eyes widened as she noticed that they were being followed. "Um… Al we need to get out of here."

"Way ahead of you Princess." He replied before taking a screeching turn into an alleyway.

X

"Aw shit!" Chris yelled swiving the car around so that he could go into the alleyway. He quickly drove to the end of the alley and looked into the street… gone, no sign of them. "Shit!" he punched the wheel and proceeded to drive calmly around the streets looking for them.

Claire sat in silence for a time, just sitting and watching Chris drive- she felt guilty, here Chris was trying to make the world a better place and what was she doing? She was talking with the very people he stood against. She felt something heavy in the pit of her stomach…

"You know them?" Chris said slowly turning into another street. His voice was sharp and left no room for argument.

Claire nodded. "Yeah. I met them…" she didn't know whether to tell him the truth or not. "I met them at a facility I visited a few months ago, she was a secretary there…" she lied… her heart clenched… her life was turning into a spindle of lies.

Chris sent her a look- whether he believed her or not she didn't know but she knew if he told her he didn't believe her she knew she'd come clean. Strangely enough though he didn't bring her up on her lie and just continued driving.

"So…" Claire began. "…you've met them before?" she asked hesitantly.

Chris suddenly pulled the car over and turned the ignition off. "Yeah…" he nodded. "Yeah I've met 'em…"

A/N: Sorry its been so long! You wont be disappointed with the next chapter though, trust me! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.

Chapter 10

Chris pulled into a nearby car park and sighed, this just was not his day first was going through the Tricel building, how he had hated that, he wasn't they type of person for doing paperwork, but no for some reason his bosses had seen fit to send him in with his sister- who didn't really help him at all, he had a feeling that she was making fun of him for some reason that he didn't know about…

Then the icing on the proverbial cake had hit him, as he was walking out of the facility and going to put his paperwork away he had seen her… that woman… his blood had boiled as the sight of her but then it had instantly gone cold as he saw that she was talking casually to his sister, his Claire, like they were friends!

"Why today…" Chris grumbled placing his face in his hands.

Claire hesitantly placed a hand on his back and gently rubbed his shoulder with her thumb. "Chris." She leaned forward. "What's going on? How do you know her?"

Chris' back trembled; he should be demanding how she knew that woman, not the other way around. He looked at his sister through the corner of his eyes, she was smiling at him, his sweet baby sister- how he wished she had never gotten involved with anything to do with virus's and monsters like that woman.

"It was at a facility…" he began slowly. "A few months ago me and Jill got hot intel of virus samples being distributed in a warehouse in the desert of Nevada…" He went silent and Claire thought that he wasn't going to tell her any more but before she could say anything he went on to tell her just what happened in Nevada.

XXX

By the gods it was hot, but the heat Chris could deal with the heat- it was the desert, the desert was supposed to be hot, he understood this. No what Chris couldn't understand was why he and Jill had been sent to some god forsaken _metal_ warehouse that was hotter than the sun in the middle of the desert because of some intel about Wesker.

"There's nothing fucking here." Chris groaned as they looked through the first room of the warehouse- the warehouse consisted of two areas, the one that Chris and Jill were currently in and another behind it, the two were separated by a wall and connected by one door.

"Lets just look through the other room and then we'll make a report." Jill looked at him, her brown eyes glazed with boredom. She picked up a piece of paper off the table and scanned it. "Nothing…" she sighed. "Come on, lets check out the next room."

Chris nodded and followed behind Jill as she opened the door, the creaking of the door filling his ears as she opened the door. The two slowly opened the door and he gaped at the sight of the room.

The room was large, large enough to fit a standard aeroplane and the only source of light was a large square hole in the roof- but that was unimportant, what was important was the desks placed around the walls of the room, the desks that were covered with notes, files and pictures of bodies and what appeared to be test diagrams. This could easily be used as evidence and possibly clues to what Wesker was doing, there were only two things about this room that bothered Chris; one being the array of dead infected bodies that were strewn across the building, some of which had some interesting mutations. Two being the fact that Wesker wasn't here like the intel had said he would be, in fact there was no trace of anyone- it looked as though it hadn't been touched for months.

"What the hell Jill?" Chris asked with a hint of a growl. He walked further into the room and spread out his arms, turning around he faced Jill he waved his arms angrily. "Where are the people? Shouldn't there be some hint of people- other than these poor bastards." He pointed to the bodies.

Jill shrugged and walked over to one of the tables. "Lets just see what we can find." She dabbed some sweat of her forehead before picking up some papers from the table.

Chris nodded and walked to one of the other tables. He picked up some random files, most of which had a series of words he didn't really understand but had no doubt that they would be of use to his people so he chucked them in his pack and continued to look. It took him a few minutes of sifting through different files but eventually he came across something that caught his interest. Photos. These weren't just photo's of people or zombies, no, these were photos of people being experimented on, photo's of places that weren't familiar to Chris, but what really took Chris' attention were photo's of what appeared to be samples.

"Jill," Chris called waving a hand at her in a gesture for her to come to him. "come see this." When Jill reached him he held out the pictures for her and she just stared a blank stare at them. These appeared to be photo's of children, girls all of various ages and all had various mutations, there were even some more disturbing photos of people who just had parts missing, no mutations or anything.

"This is…" Jill gasped looking at the photo- she recognised one of the girls, it was a young Mila Marie a girl who had gone missing several months ago, in fact, all of the photos seemed to be girls of the same age who had been reported missing in the past year. Now usually BSAA wouldn't take much interest in matters like that, but after an incident that the government had informed them about involving a young girl named Manuela, they had made a point to pay attention to girls missing.

"Shit…" Chris murmured looking at a photo of a girl who was missing her arms and her eyes. "What sick bastard did this…?"

"I could tell you," The BSAA pair jumped at the voice and turned to see someone they were both very familiar with. "however I have neither the time nor the inclination to do so." Thin lips curved into a dark smile.

"You!" Chirs' gun was in his hand in an instant and pointed at Wesker. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

Wesker pushed his sunglasses up as he stepped into the light, the hot sun from outside illuminating his face, the shadows sharpening his features, if possible he looked even more sinister than he usually would. He made a tapping gesture to a briefcase in his hand.

"I am merely here to retrieve something, however seeing you here give me an interesting thought." He tilted his head to the side, and if possible his smile got larger.

"You-" before Chris could finish his sentence a fist landed in his jaw and it sent him flying into the metal wall. "Ungh!" Chris let out a cough as his back smacked into the steel suspension pole.

"Chris!" Jill jumped back as Wesker lunged for her. "Bastard." She fired a shot, and was struck to find that while her aim was perfect the bullet merely went in an inch before falling back out. 'no…' she thought in a panic, she knew that now wasn't a good time to take on Wesker, now would be just stupid- but she also knew there wasn't much of a choice so she fired another round and jumped further away from Chris and Wesker. Maybe Chris could get an opening…

Wesker let out a chuckle. "Ah, Jill." He stepped towards her, his red eyes seemed to glow brighter as he drew closer. Jill aimed her gun and took a wary step back- this was not how things were supposed to go. She silently cursed, why didn't they take more weapons!? She let out a round as he lunged for her.

"Ugh…" she struggled as he lifted her from the ground, his fist tightened around her neck and he smiled- how she hated that smile, sucking in air she lifted her hand, the gun weighed heavily and her fingers were close to sagging. She held the gun against his head.

Wesker let out a chuckle. "Go on Jill, fire away." Jill's eyes locked with his, anger burned as her finger moved at the trigger- a gun fired that was not hers. Jill's eyes widened as she was dropped to the floor, her mouth opening to gush in air.

"Hmph, Chris." Wesker turned, he seemed to pay no mind to the fact that blood was pouring out of a hole in the back of his head. "Was that really necessary? If you wanted my attention you just needed to ask."

Chris let out a bitter chuckled. "Bullet to the fucking head and still around, I should have fucking known." He held his gun up. "I'm going to fucking kill you- first though, tell me what the fuck you're doing with those girls!?"

Wesker smiled viciously. "I-" whatever Wesker was going to say was interrupted by the buildings roof exploding, fragments of metal shooting and falling across the room. A flaming chunk went towards Wesker whom kicked it aside and looked at the ceiling with a bored expression while Chris and Jill all but sprinted away from the debris.

"Al! you stupid moron I said a grenade not a fucking rocket launcher! Are you trying to fucking kill him!?"

Wesker put a hand on his hip as his frown deepened. "Lower the ladder now." The tone in Wesker's voice left no time for argument.

"Al! take the helm you idiot, I'll get the boss!" Chris heard the voice shout. A few seconds went by before A rope ladder shot through the smoke. Wesker stepped forwards and clutched the rope. "Goodbye Chris and Jill, perhaps we can continue this another time." As the ladder began to rise Chris and Jill snapped out of their little trances and began to open fire on Wesker.

"Al! you look after the boss!" the voice shouted as a bullet pierced part of the rope ladder. Then, quite suddenly the Wesker began to flail as though the helicopter wasn't being controlled. "Take control of the bloody helm!" the voice shouted as a figure fell through the smoke, in that moment Wesker stopped flailing and was lifted up and out of the building. The smoke shot into their eyes as the helicopter took off. When the smoke cleared all that was left was a figure, a lady with golden hair wearing a suit with skirt, stockings and black nine inch heels.

"You don't mind if I take my shoes off before we fight do you?" Chris blanched at her question as she knelt down. "I didn't think that the idiot would use a rocket launcher- and I really wasn't prepared for people with guns to be firing at us…" she took of one heel. "I don't believe in fighting in heels, unlike some others working for Wesker I actually have a brain." She took off the heel and placed them neatly beside her.

She straightened up and looked at the pair. "Now, how would you like to do this? Personally I'm better at hand to hand but if you wanna just go guns blazing I'm good for that too."

"Who are you?" Chris growled loading his weapon.

"I'm-" the blonde went silent as a tango tune filled the room. "I should probably answer that." She slid her jacket off and folded it neatly with her shoes. "…but I'm guessing you wouldn't allow that." She rolled the sleeves of her white business shirt before reaching into her top and bra. She pulled out a reddish brown head band and slid it onto her head, a strange expression took her face as she did this and a haughtiness took her eyes. The tune continuing to echo through the room, words began to accompany the tune.

_Roxanne  
You don't have to put on that red light  
Walk the streets for money  
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right _

"Lets go." With that she charged at the pair, Chris and Jill split each taking to one side of the room their guns firing at the woman. With each bullet fired the woman dodged in a display of flexibility that Chris hadn't seen before, she jumped, split and rolled to get away from the bullets.

"Wesker has so much trouble from you two?" she murmured standing up and dusting herself off in the split second while the pair reloaded their weapons. "This is pretty pathetic."

_Roxanne  
You don't have to wear that dress tonight  
Roxanne  
You don't have to sell your body to the night_

Jill let out a growl and charged at the woman, her fist landing into the blondes jaw. The blonde let out a laugh as she felt her jaw. "That was quite a punch!" Jill landed another punch, this time drawing blood. "Nice." She let out another laugh. "You I like."

The blonde swung her leg around, kicking Jill in the side before jumping behind Jill and holding her in a lock. Jill flailed in the grip her legs kicking into the shins of the blonde.

"Jill!" Chris shouted and fired at the blonde, who dragged Jill with her to dodge the bullets until finally two hit- one hitting Jill while the other hit the blonde in the arm. The woman flinched loosening her grip, it wasn't much, but it was enough for Jill to break the hold and overpower her, forcing her into the ground with Jill on top holding a gun to the woman's head.

"Shit!" Chris ran towards them. "You okay!?"

Jill let out a grunt and pushed the gun into the woman's temple. "I'm fine!" she pushed the gun harder. "Just fine." Jill's eyes went cold as she glared into the ocean orbs of the woman pressed beneath her.

_His eyes upon your face  
His hand upon your hand  
His lips caress your skin  
It's more than I can stand_

"Who are you?" Chris asked as he walked towards the pair- he watched as Jill pressed the gun harder into the woman's temple, pushing her head into the ground , their eyes never left each others- it was as though Jill was waiting for something to happen, not that Chris could blame her.

Chris watched as the woman's hand twitched and raised itself to Jill's abdomen, Chris watched with wide eyes as the woman's hand slid up Jill's stomach before brushing her palms against Jill's breast, the hand proceeded to slide up Jill's chest before it brushed against her neck. Chris stilled at the display, wondering just what was happening and what he was witnessing. Then it happened the woman's hand clamped around Jill's neck.

"You are not worth my time lady." She stretched her arms out and lifted Jill off her. "Though I do see why Wesker speaks so fondly of you." Standing on her feet she tossed Jill to the side, her eyes then turned to Chris and she smiled coolly. "You are the real prize for the boss.

Bang! A gun sounded as Jill shot the woman in the left arm- silence took the room, a silence so cold it could have sent the sanest of people mad. The woman tilted her head towards Jill. "You probably shouldn't have done that… my arm… it doesn't quite like that…"

Chris watched as the muscles in her arms shook and moved as though something was crawling in it- his eyes widened, he knew this, he knew what it was. He started firing.

(_Roxanne)  
Why does my heart cry?  
(Roxanne)  
Feelings I can't fight  
You're free to leave me, but just don't decieve me  
And please believe me when I say I love you_

The blonde jumped as he fired, the way she moved was almost like a dance, on her toes she leaped, twirled and flipped, all while her arm grew- a mixture of red and yellow oozing from cuts that formed in her arm as the skin stretched beyond its limits.

"You have a fairly good aim, I must say…" she murmured as he chased after her firing bulled like no tomorrow. "…quite good indeed…" she glanced down at a bullet that hit her arm.

The Chris heard it, the sound of helicopter propellers, he looked up a saw a helicopter hovering over the hole in the roof. In the helicopter was a person holding what appeared to be a- "SHIT!" Chris ran for cover underneath a table as a barrage of bullets from a mini-gun fired upon them. At first he thought it was aid for the woman, but when some of the bullets hit her he second thought it.

"Al! what the fuck are you doing here!" the woman shouted up at the helicopter. "And who the fuck gave you rein of the mini-gun!?"

"I'm here to save you, you silly cow!" was the response.

"Save me!? You shot me!" she pointed at her arm, which was now had a few bullet holes and was now the length of her body and almost the same width of it.

_Yo que te quiero tanto, qué voy a hacer  
Me dejaste, me dejaste  
En un tango  
El alma se me fue  
Se me fue el corazon  
Ya no tengo ganas de vivir  
Porque no te puedo convencer  
Que no te vendas Roxanne_

The woman suddenly let out an ear piercing shriek, and Chris began to fire on her- which resulted in him having to take cover again as 'Al' opened fire at the table he was hiding under.

Her shook as it transformed, it was brown, almost the colour of rum, veins throbbing hard, her fingers grew long, almost as long as Chris' forearm. His arms locked onto her shoulder, he knew what was coming next- though he found it strange that the rest of her body had not take a transformation, in fact it was untouched, the transformation seemed to have only taken her arm.

The bone curdling scream ended as an eye opened from her shoulder- an eyes the colour of fire, its black pupil locked on Chris. "You…" the woman gasped. Her eyes were closed but she knew where he was, she could see him with that eye…

"You are disgusting." The arm shot forward and extended across the room to reach him. He fired rounds and ran jumping over obstacles to get away from the arm.

"You're fast…" she murmured the arm retracting back. "But I'm quicker." Her arm shot up and gripped part of the ceiling, at the same time her body lunged forward and she landed on him. "Relax… you are-" she was cut off by bullets hitting her side. "Ungh…" she slackened her grip which allowed Chris the opportunity to roll away and run to the side.

Elle released the grip on the roof and shot a punch at Jill. "I really need to answer that call." She ground out looking at the wound at her side.

_(Roxanne)  
Why does my heart cry?  
(Roxanne)  
Feelings I can't fight  
(Roxanne)  
You don't have to put on that red light  
Roxanne  
(Roxanne)  
(Roxanne) _

She lifted Jill and threw her into a wall. While her attention was focused on Jill Chris took aim- he only had one shot, he needed to aim this right. He waited… waited… and… there! He fired.

Elle stepped towards Jill. "You are-" she grunted in pain as the bullet pierced the eye in her shoulder. "Ouch…" she the out a whine and gripped her arm. "Boss!" she shouted. "I'm coming!" then what happened next Chris still wasn't too sure about what happened, her arm shot at the helicopter and gripped it and her body swung across the room, grabbed her items and lifted herself towards the helicopter. Chris and Jill started to fire at her, only to have a rain of bullets fall down upon them- then nothing, the helicopter was gone, the only proof it had been there was carnage that had been left behind.

XXX

Chris looked at Claire. "That woman is a monster Claire. In all ways imaginable."

Claire went still, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open- she knew that Elle worked for Wesker, she could accept that, but never did she that that she had that sort of mutation- it sounded like a damn bandersnatch! Claire couldn't believe it, Elle just looked so normal…

Chris' eyes suddenly became like steel. "Now Claire." His voice, had it been tangent would have cut through diamond. "How do you know that woman?"


	11. Chapter 11

AN: The Spanish words I used in this chapter I got from Google translate, so if it's a little off I apologise.

Chapter 11

That Sergei is such a nice man!

Sergei looked over at Maria from across his desk, in his umbrella office which while it was bigger than most offices, it was still insanely small, stark white and covered with Umbrella stickers- all in all it quite horrid, he much preferred his office in Russia, where there was his things, his favourite gun, his tube grown miniature tyrant and of course hidden vodka cabinet…

He snapped from his thoughts and scanned Maria up and down as she read over the contract he had given her. He frowned, she had been working in this branch of umbrella for just under a month and she already looked as though she had been here for forty years with only one break a day. She was very pale, very pale for someone of her complexion. Her hair was done as though she didn't even care about it anymore, it was just pulled back in a quick bun, pieces of curled hair sticking in almost different directions. The only thing about her that didn't look as though it had been subjected to hard work was her uniform, no instead of looking haggard her uniform looked as though it had never been worn, she obviously took great care in it.

Maria crossed her long legs and tucked a hair behind her ear as she turned the page of the contract. While she did this Sergei took notice of her legs, so shapely and wonderful, her tights only added to her shapely legs. He wondered just what he rest of her would look like under the-

"So far this seems fine." She bought him from his musings with her comment. "However I…" she held the papers out to him. "I don't quite understand this part, could you just clarify it for me?" her big dark eyes looked up at him pleadingly, oh those eyes… an image came to him, one that was less innocent than she probably intended her expression to fill him with.

He took the papers from her, making an effort to brush his fingers against hers- and he did not miss the blush that took her cheeks at the action. "Lets see." His eyes scanned the page for a few moments.

"Well," he passed the page back to her. "Basically it states that if the medication does not have the desired effects or if it has any undesired side effects that causes you bodily harm, Umbrella is by no means responsible, however should you wish it we can and or will preform tests on your person to deter the effects and gain knowledge for improvements."

Maria nodded and continued to flip through the pages. "Well," she placed the papers on the table, picked up a pen and scooted closer to the table. "It seems to be in fine." She quietly signed the papers, once she had finished she let out a sigh and slid them across the table to him.

Sergei noticed an expression take her face, it was one he had seen on many of their test subjects, it was a breaking expression of hope, she was on her last legs with her illness and needed something to bring her back- he felt genuine hope, hope that the drug she was going to test helped her.

"Everything will be fine." He said, the words of comfort sounding strange to him, even though they were from his own mouth. But the smile they caused, that was enough for him.

"Thank you." Maria lowered her head in what could only be called a respectful bow. Silence took the room for a few moments as neither party had or even needed anything to say. The silence ended though, when Maria slid her chair back and came to a stand.

Sergei smiled and stood as well. "It was my pleasure Miss Sera," he walked over to her, ah the things he could do to her! Images flooded through his head, many of which involved his desk, clothing strewn across the floor and the many uses of the surgical tubing.  
He shook his head to shake the images placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now I want you to look after yourself." His voice took a gentler tone that again sounded strange to him. "We wouldn't want you to get ill."

Maria smiled and looked up at him, she almost leaned into his touch. "Thank you señor." She inched towards the door. "You are too kind." Sergei watched her open the door and head towards the hallway.

"By the way, Maria." Sergei called making her pause. "Take care my dear."

Maria smiled. "Thank you Sergei."

XXX

William Birkin did not look up from his work as he heard the door open and close. From the sound of those heels, it was either his wife or Maria, and since Annette was generally busy with her own work he was going to bet on Maria.  
He resisted the urge to sigh, he didn't mind Maria, no, she was quite the friend of his and Annette's, however there was a difference between seeing someone on occasion and seeing them every day and to be frank if he didn't even see his own family as often as he saw Maria then there was something wrong and he shouldn't have her as an assistant anymore.

"Umm…" He cringed, he hated it when people 'ummed' and 'errred' it drove him insane, if they used this language then what they had to say is unimportant and they shouldn't have opened their mouths in the first place.

"Will, I've done the paperwork you assigned, is there some more you need help with?" William sighed and looked up from his work, at least she was asking to do something useful and not wasting his time with inane chatter.

William looked around his desk, there was some paperwork waiting for him but this was stuff he needed to do by himself, things that involved his work on the T-virus, and as much as he trusted Maria- well there were some things that William Birkin just did not share.

"I'm sorry Maria," William began looking at the woman with a weak smile. "I don't have-" his sentence was cut off as the door opened and in walked a Mr. Albert Wesker.

Maria's eyes lit up and she went to give the man a greeting. "Hello señor Wesker-" she went silent as he walked past her, she let out a sad sigh and resigned herself to standing in the background- this wasn't new, she was used to Wesker waltzing in and out of the place like he owned it, it would just be nice if the bastardo at least acknowledged her.

'He's a very busy man.' Her mind said in a comforting tone. 'I don't care how bloody busy someone is, they can still say hi.' Another part of her mind said- and she had to admit she agreed with it.

"Bastardo." She mumbled under her breath, she nearly jumped when Wesker stopped in his step- she was so sure he was going to stop and say something to her from they way his body tensed, but when he continued in his stride to William she let out a breath of relief.

Maria stood and waited attentively as Wesker and William talked about tests they had been running- or something, the pair could get incredibly boring when they wanted to she smiled to herself and thought about more interesting topics, like Sergei; now that was a nice man, he was never rude to her and always found it in himself to smile at her, say hello- he wasn't a rude gilipollas like Wesker.

"Maria?" Maria jumped at the sound of her name, she looked up to see Wesker and William looking at her strangely- crap! Had she been in her own little world again?

"Yes Will?" she asked with a smile, Wesker was looking at her with a bored expression on his face, as though he could be doing lots of other things instead of addressing her. William however, had an amused look on his face, he seemed to know that she had been thinking bad things about Wesker, he knew how much she disliked him.

William held out a stack of papers- it seemed she had something to do again. "These are the papers for the experimental drug, we need them filled out by the end of the week." As Maria opened her mouth to retort he continued as though he knew what she was going to say. "The research notes are over there." He pointed to a green folder on his desk, and turned back to Wesker, it was obvious that they weren't going to say anything else to her so she walked over to the desk, picked up the folder, then went back to her table and set down to get to work.

X

"Perezosos bastardos tienen que aprender a hacer las cosas por sí mismos!" (A/N: Lazy bastards need to learn to do things for themselves!) Maria muttered to herself as she ploughed through the paperwork, she didn't mind paperwork, really she didn't, however there was a time when things just got too much and this was it. It was utterly ridiculous that she should be doing this, for starters she was pretty sure she wasn't even qualified for this sort of thing, sure she had the knowledge but she was getting paid to file paperwork and maybe fill out a requisition order- not write out assessment results!

"Joder cabrones!" (A/N: Damn bastards!) she growled under her breath.

"Maria?"

"Me gustaría que lo hagan por sí mismos!" (A/N: I'd like them to do it for themselves!) she jotted down some more, she was annoyed, very annoyed, so annoyed that if Wesker came in and gave her any for of annoyance she would probably snap, take those god awful glasses and smash them on the floor.

"Maria?" Maria jumped at the sound of her name and looked up to see William looking at her with an amused expression.

"Err…" Maria took a breath and looked up at her superior. "H-How can I help you Will?" she let a smile take her face. She was extremely grateful that it was Will who had found her in her tirade, the last thing he needed was for Wesker or Sergei to have found her muttering obscenities in Spanish.

William pointed to the clock and said with a deadpan voice. "It's time for me to finish for the day."

Maria looked up at the clock, god was it five o'clock already? She looked down at her paperwork, god had she really been sitting there for five hours doing the paperwork? "When this is done," she gestured to her work. "is there anything else you want me to do?"

William paused for a moment as though in thought- Maria held back a giggle, he always looked so adorable when he thought, she had never noticed it until Annette had pointed it out, but when he thought over things he either chewed his nails or his lip. At the moment it was his lip and it was quite adorable.

"I'd like you to requisition me some new equipment and file the papers on my desk."

Maria nodded. "Good evening Will, say hello to Annette and Sherry for me." Will nodded at her and took his leave. Leaving Maria by herself, the silence was nice for the first half hour, but then as time went by it became more irritating. Most nights she was okay with the silence but tonight what would normally be the comforting sound of the clock ticking bought her nothing but sadness.

She looked up at the clock, why was the sound so loud tonight? It was maddening! Tick, tick, tick, her eyes watered that sound. Her hands reached up to the sides of her head, her nails dug into her skull the room started to spin.

"Ungh…" she reached for a familiar bottle that rested inside her lab jackets pocket. Her fingers gripped the plastic as she pulled it out, she gripped it harshly as she twisted the lid.

"Dios…" she gasped as she poured two pills into her hand. The room started to spin faster as she swallowed the pills, their familiar taste of plastic and metal filling her mouth. When the pills were down her throat she felt an attack come at her, she fell to the ground as her body convulsed and a fit of coughs took her. She faintly heard the door open and the sound of rushing footsteps but it all faded to black.

X

When Maria awoke she was in what appeared to be one of the many medical wings of Umbrella. At least she it looked like one of their medical quarters. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, what happened? She let out a cough and suddenly remembered, she had an attack, but it had been different this time, she hadn't been dizzy before an attack before.

She still felt a little dizzy now that she thought about it, it wasn't as bad as before though, but the stark whiteness of the room was hurting her. She glanced around on the ceiling were some florescent lights, the only source of light, there were no windows, which was a little off putting, Maria would have liked to see some colours. Next to her were some more hospital beds that had no one in them, which again Maria was disappointed with since now she had no one to talk with.

"I wonder what had happened?" she rubbed her head- god she felt awful, maybe it was time for a vacation, but then again she had only been working at this umbrella facility for a month so it was probably too early for a vacation. She smiled at the idea of a vacation, she'd very much like to go back to Spain, maybe spend some time Emilia… or with Luis… how she missed her younger brother.

"Miss Sera?" Maria's head shot up and she looked over to the glass door where Sergei stood, concern etched on his face. Hints of relief washed over his face when she looked at him.

"Señor Sergei." Maria smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm afraid, my dear, I am the one who should be asking you that." He took the seat beside her, his hands folding neatly in his lap. She could only imagine the picture they made, Sergei of all people sitting kindly beside her- from what he had heard of him he wasn't a very nice man to the staff, she couldn't imagine why though he was so friendly!

"I think I had an attack- you don't know do you?" she asked, twiddling her thumbs in her laps.

Sergei looked at her with a frown. "Yes it was an attack." He paused as though in thought, which was true as he was carefully considering his words. "Your old medication has lost its… effects, we should have gotten your new medication to you tonight rather than next week." He reached into his jackets pocket.

Maria looked at him sadly, it wasn't his fault that she had and attack, her illness had been an issue for a very long time, it wasn't something he needed to concern himself with. "Sergei-"

Sergei took out of his pocket a small white medicine bottle with an umbrella logo on the side. "As soon as I heard you were here I had this specially ordered and delivered tonight." There was a small smile on his face as he passed her the bottle, his fingers brushed against hers as the bottle landed in her hand.

Maria looked down at the bottle before opening it, the pills were small, round and white, in their own regard they reminded her of mints and she would have thought them to be such were it not for the umbrella logo carved into the side. "Thank you Sergei." She smiled. "You really did not need to though, I could have waited."

Sergei shook his head. "It was the least I could do when I found out about your condition."

Maria nodded her head as a flash took her memory, she remembered the footsteps rushing towards her before she passed out. "Um… Sergei, do you know who found me?"

Sergei looked at the door an expression took his face, Maria could tell that just from that expression that he was not please by whoever it was that had saved her. "It was Wesker." He said slowly. "Apparently my comrade had gone to Birkin's lab in search of some files when he found you." Sergei's mouth twisted as though he had tasted something foul.

Maria went silent. Wesker had saved her? 'Mr. Grump man with a ten foot long pole up his arse' had saved her? That couldn't be true, the man was insufferable, he'd sooner use her as a test subject than help her. "Really Sergei?" she asked after a long pause, there was just no way known that Wesker would have done anything to help her.

Sergei nodded forlornly however a pleased look took his head as he realised that she was just as disturbed about Wesker saving her as he had been. Since when did that man have a soft spot- he actually thought Wesker might have tested the new virus on her, that would have been more plausible.

However for whatever reason Wesker had decided to do a rare act of kindness and help her, so he supposed that he should give the man some credit, it was too early for Maria to fall ill to her sickness, he needed to test the new drug on her and he also had a few personal agendas involving her so it would be a shame if she were to fall deathly ill.

'I suppose I'll have to thank him.' She thought to herself, her mind still reeling from the information she had been told. Wesker had saved her? She glanced at Sergei. 'He is such a nice man.' She thought with a smile.  
Maria put the lid back on her medicine bottle and placed it on the stand beside her bed- were she in any other state of mind she might have thought about reading the label as there was nothing on it, but as it were she wasn't in the frame of mind to think of anything really.

"Sergei." She said with a sleepy smile.

"Yes?" he asked looking back at her.

"Do you mind if I get some rest?" she leaned back into the pillows her muscles giving out and she could feel herself falling asleep. "I'm getting rather tired."

He nodded at her and gave her a warm look. "Of course my dear Miss Sera." He rose from the chair and pointed to a red button on the wall near her head. "Should you need anything press that and someone will come to help you." with a curt nod he left the room, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the hall as he walked.

Maria listened to the sound of his shoes as she closed her eyes, the weariness beginning to take hold of her. "He is such a nice man…" was all she said before falling asleep.

X

Maria smiled as she walked into the office, the events of the previous day flowing through her mind- she still couldn't believe that her attack had hit her so severely, or the fact that Wesker had saved her. But she wasn't about to complain, at least she was healthy enough to work again, the thought made her smile as she opened the door to William's office.

"It isn't ready for testing yet-" Wesker's voice came to a halt as she walked into the room, his body tensed and he looked less than pleased that she was there.

"Hello Maria!" William said with a smile. "How are you feeling? I heard about last night." Concern etched his face- how she liked Will, he was such a caring person.

"I'm feeling pretty-" she paused as Wesker left the room, she stared at the door for a few moments as if deciding on something to do- she eventually came to her decision and looked at William. "Excuse me for a moment." She didn't even wait for a response before she raced out the door after Wesker.

"Wait Wesker!" she called to his retreating back.

He stopped and she came to a halt behind him. "I umm…" she bit her lip and twiddled her fingers. "I wanted to say thank you, I heard what you did- helping me I mean…"

Wesker didn't turn to look at her, he merely nodded his head and continued onwards. Maria watched his retreating back until he was out of her sight before she headed back into her office where she was met with the sight of a confused William who proceeded to ask her a thousand questions about what had happened to her last night and why she chased after Wesker.

As she listened to and answered Williams questions she noticed a single pink rose on her desk, with a note that read;

_I do hope you feel better,_

_S_

She smiled to herself, Sergei was such a nice man… but then again Wesker… maybe he was a nice man too.

A/N: Another chapter! I'm trying to make up for the time I spent away! =D

Review?


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: It's been a while I know! But here's some Elle, Claire and Annabelle for you!

Chapter 12

Household truths

Eight inch heels clicked together as Elle walked into the Gym or 'training room' of the facility Wesker was currently taking up arms in. She was wearing a pair of shorts so short they might as well have been underwear with a tight tank top which did very little to hide her red and black playboy bra.

She glanced around the gym and smiled as she saw Jack Krauser in a wife beater and track pants beating a poor boxing bag into oblivion and not far away from him was Al who appeared to be stripping down and out of his usual bike attire. The rest of the gym seemed fairly vacant, the shooting area of the room made her smile, there were three people shaped shooting targets and each one had a different face photo stuck to it that got altered weekly- she briefly wondered what Rupert Grint had done to deserve having his picture put on the target but decided it was probably better not to ask.

Like every other gym in existence there was a weights area and while Elle entertained the idea of doing some weights, there was a reason she had chosen to wear stripper heels and that was the pole in the centre of the room, she wanted a real work out.

Rubbing her hands against her top to dry them she looked up the pole and placed her hands high above her head on the pole, she then proceeded to use her right leg to push herself up onto the pole while her left leg wrapped around in front of the pole, from then she continued to climb until she was half way up the pole. From there she released her legs from the pole and used her arms to hold herself beside the pole for twenty seconds before alternating sides.

After a few turns of that she placed her legs back on the pole and sat in a seated position, with her legs straight and crossed in front of her on one side and her bum lightly poking out on the other from there she took her arms off the pole and lowered her torso back until her taught legs were higher than her torso, she took a breath and closed her eyes before she began to do sit ups, her legs clenched tightly as she continued to with her sit ups, she'd be sore tomorrow but it was worth it.

Fifteen minutes into her workout and someone interrupted her workout. "Miss Smith?" came the smooth voice of Wesker.

Elle stopped her sit ups and looked over at Wesker who was standing a few metres away from her with a raised brow and a clipboard in his hands. She held her position on the pole and turned slightly to face him.

"Yes sir?" she asked with a slight strain in her voice, holding this type of position was hard, but she was going to do it, she wanted to tone her flabby legs up- not that she had flabby legs at all.

"I have a job for you." he held out the clipboard to her and watched as she took it from him and proceeded to read it while holding herself up on the pole. He shook his head, he still could remember when she had asked him to have the thing installed, he let out a chuckle, that had been an interesting day.

Elle went back to doing sit ups while she read the details about her latest job, her eyes scanned the page, getting wider and wider as she read until finally she threw, yes threw, the pad at Wesker and all but screamed.

"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT!?"

The shrill sound of her voice gained the attention of Jack who turned from the punching bag and made his way over to the pair. Al however, who was now completely out of his biker outfit and instead wearing a pair of white track pants and practicing martial arts, paid no mind to Elle's shriek either he had gotten so used to the sound of her voice that he didn't notice anymore or he just didn't care.

"What the matter princess?" Jack asked with the hint of a smile, he crossed his arms and looked up at the woman who was glaring down at Wesker. He briefly wondered if Wesker would kill her for giving him such an insolent expression, but then he thought against it as Wesker had to enjoy the tantrums, it just wasn't possible not to.

Elle went quiet for a moment before answering. "He wants me to go back…" she looked away from Jack as she felt something moist form in her eyes. "back to the government labs…" there was a strain to her voice as though she was trying not to cry, which she very well was.

Silence took the room and the only sound appeared to be the slight grunts of Al as he continued to practice fighting moves. However silence was not the only thing that took the room, no a thick tenseness took the room and were somebody to walk in at that moment they would most likely be able to cut through the air

Jack sent Wesker a dark look. "Why the fuck are you sending her back there?" the muscles in his arms tensed as he realised just where the man wanted to send Elle.

Wesker sneered at his subordinates questioning him but answered the questions regardless. "She is the only one with the certain abilities this mission needs." He noticed from the corner of his eye that Jack was staring at him with a disbelieving glare and smirked. "You should be grateful Krauser I am sending her to collect someone very close to your heart."

Confused by Wesker's words he glanced at Elle who continued to look away from them. He then opted to pick up the pad from the floor and flip through the pages most of it seemed like crap that he didn't need to pay attention to, until he saw a photo and a name… a photo of a young woman that he remembered very well, only it wasn't a picture of her smiling the way he remembered her, no this was a photo of her lying on what appeared to be a hospital bed, covered in bruises and a pile of bloodied tools on a table beside her.

"Manuella…" he muttered and Wesker nodded in confirmation.

"Elle." Wesker said in a voice that was foreign to Jack's ears, it sounded almost kind. "We have been given an opportunity here," he stepped forward. "An opportunity to acquire a sample of a highly potent strain of the virus as well as an opportunity for you to get revenge." He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a photo, a photo he proceeded to pass the photo to Elle.

Elle slowly took the photo and glanced down at it, her eyes went wide as she saw a photo of a balding elderly gentleman in a military suit she remembered him. She remembered those dark eyes of his, she remembered his laugh, that dark voice… the room at the end of the hall… she closed her eyes and scrunched the photo in her hands. A dark feeling took her heart as images of a little frightened girl took her, and the hands… the hands that touched the girl…

Her legs loosened of their own accord and without warning she began to fall from the pole, her world turning black.

X

Her eyes fluttered open as she felt something cold tap her head, the first thing she saw was the face of Al, his usually slicked back hair was stuck by sweat across his face and pointing in all different directions. There was a sheen of sweat on his face and his blue eyes were filled with worry as he dabbed cloth on her forehead. She smiled and raised a hand to touch his cheek- it was Al, her sweet gentle Al. she closed her eyes again and snuggled into the embrace. A few seconds went by before she remembered falling off the pole and the photo…

She shot up and groaned as a rush of blood hit her head. Her hand moved from Al and moved to grip her damp head as she groaned. The sound of a shoe tapping made her head throb more and she realised that Wesker and Jack were still standing there watching her.

"What happened?" she mumbled, wincing as she spoke.

Wesker looked down at her with a frown. "You passed out. If Al didn't fall catch you, you probably would still be knocked out." His frown deepened and he crossed his arms, he did not look like a happy camper at all.

Elle groaned and buried her head in her hands. She was not having a good day, all she wanted was to have a work out and maybe have something to drink afterwards, but what does she get instead? Told that she do a mission she would rather chew off her own foot than do and then she passes out and falls off her pole… she was not having a nice day.

Her mind went back to the photo, the face of that man… suddenly she was a frightened little girl again and looking up at him as he smiled maliciously at her. She had never truly hated a person before, but that man… that monster she both hated and feared more than anything else in the world. She let out a choked sob and rubbed her damp eyes into her hands.

"Alright…" she finally said after an undefinable amount of time. "I'll do it…" she didn't take her hands away from her face- she did not want Wesker to see her like this, she had not cried in the longest time, not since she was a little girl and Wesker had taken her from that place.

Wesker nodded in acceptance of her words and if Elle had looked up in that moment she would have seen one of the strangest expressions on his face, it was not tender, nor was it angry but it was an expression that he had never looked upon her with.

"I want you to leave in three days." He said in his usual voice before he turned and left the room.

Elle kept her face in her hands even after Wesker and Jack had left and Al was the only one sitting with her. She knew it was silly but she felt a strange comfort in having her face covered while Al rubbed her back- it was nice, a feeling of tenderness took her which made her smile. She leaned into Al and snuggled into his embrace.

"Lets get you cleaned up." He said in a tone that was very soft. He then helped her off the floor and led her out of the room. Only once they were alone and away from prying eyes did she move her hands and allow him to see her wet cheeks and red eyes.

XXX

Claire smiled at Annabelle who was munching on some chips. The pair were sitting in a McDonalds enjoying some lunch. Claire had not seen Annabelle since their holiday and it was nice to see her again. Claire had received a phone call from Annabelle the night before and Annabelle had asked if they could see each other again- after mapping out where Belle lived which was oddly enough only an hour away from Claire's home- Claire had gone and collected the girl the next day and now they were enjoying some lunch.

"Tank you for seeing me Claire." Annabelle smile brightly at her and ate some more of her chips. The girl was wearing a long white skirt with some sandals and a pink top with a lovely sequined butterfly.

Claire smiled. "I'm glad I'm here Belle." She took a sip of her drink. It was true she was glad that she was there with Belle, even if looking at the girl made her think of Wesker… her cheeks went red as she thought about the kiss…

"Yoo okay Claire?" Annabelle asked tilting her head to the side, her eyes were wide and filled with worry as though Claire was sick.

Claire shook her head and scolded herself for thinking about that horrid man… with his asshole personality, perfect body… firm chest… soft lips… handsome smile… she groaned and shook her head again- why was she thinking about him like this!? The man did not deserve her thoughts! As she tried not to think about him, flashes of their kiss shot through her mind again and she felt her cheeks heat up- why!?

"Claire?" Annabelle's voice cut through her inner turmoil.

Claire jumped and looked at the girl who was staring at her curiously. "Y-Yes Belle?" she stammered, her cheeks reddening further.

Annabelle's face frowned in worry. "Are you okay?" she crossed her arms. "You're not sick are yoo?"

Claire let out a strangled laugh and scratched her arm nervously. "No," she laughed. "Its just a bit hot in here." She looked around for something to change the subject with, her eyes locked onto Annabelle's top. "That's a very pretty top, where did you get it?"

Annabelle looked down and smiled, her sweet toothy grin. "Daddy got it for me."

Claire smiled as she pictured Wesker buying cute little tops for his daughter- the image didn't seem too farfetched now that she had seen the two of them together, in fact now she had almost no trouble picturing the two of them in a pink shop buying cute pretty dresses and clothes.

"It's a beautiful top," Claire commented taking another sip of her drink. "Wesker was very kind to buy it for you."

Annabelle smiled and took another one of her chips. Claire watched as the girl ate, she was nothing like herself or Chris, who when they were children would just scoff the food down their throats. No this girl was more delicate than any other six year old she had ever met, her fingers were so careful, so fluid in their motion of picking up the chip and taking it to her mouth, and there was no spillage. The girl hadn't dropped one chip, not had she gotten any of the drink anywhere other than her mouth. The girl in short, was the perfect eater- Claire had a hunch that you could feed this girl spaghetti and she still would not spill a drop.

"You're a really good eater Belle." She commented. Wondering if it was Wesker who had taught her so well.

Annabelle grinned. "Tank yoo! Daddy always says that we shouldn't eat like and animal." Her words confirmed Claire's earlier thoughts.

Claire smiled at the girl, she was so innocent, so adorable, she was the exact opposite of her father. She wondered what the girls mother was like because she had a very hard time picturing Wesker being this cute in any stage of his lifetime.

"Belle." Claire took another chip and noticed that their food was almost finished. "What do you want to do when we're finished here?"

Annabelle tilted her head to the side as she had a think, it was truly adorable to watch. "Umm can we go to the park?" she smiled and finished her chips.

Claire nodded and finished her food. "When you're ready we'll go." She smiled and finished her drink. The two of them then proceeded to finish their food and drinks before heading to Claire's car to drive down to the park.

X

The park they ended up going to was one only a block away from Annabelle's house. The girl had picked it because she enjoyed this place and also because it was close to her home so that Claire "Wouldn't need to drive very far to take her home" in Annabelle's words.

The park was small and consisted of a slide, some monkey bars and a swing set with two swings. The ground was mostly grass with some mulch areas, it was very nice, small but nice and Claire liked it. The pair were currently playing with the swing set, Annabelle was in the swing while Claire pushed her.

"Higher Claire!" Annabelle let out a shriek as Claire obliged her. She flung her legs out from side to side and laughed, it was a pure laugh that Claire found herself smiling at.

After the swings they moved to the monkey bars where Claire helped the young girl climb onto the bars and swing herself up- not that Annabelle needed much help, the girl seemed like a natural gymnast. That idea was not all that hard to fathom for Claire considering whom the girl's father was.

Their next stop was the slide. The girl loved it. She would continuously go up and down the slide, she was in hysterics with her laughter. In those moments nothing could have been better than going up and down that slide. It all ended however as Annabelle chose to go down the slide on her knees. Now this would have been okay had the slide been plastic, but no this was one of those older, metal slides and as she went down this slide she let out a scream as the skin came off her knees. Claire charged at the girl as she landed knee first into the grass.

"Belle! Belle!" Claire lifted the crying girl onto her lap and while making soothing sounds took a look at the girls knees. "Oh deer Belle." She brushed the girls cheek. "Lets go to the car, I've got a kit in there."

Claire lifted the crying girl and carried her to the car, she had started to bring a first aid kit in her car after the Raccoon incident. At this moment she was very grateful for her thinking. She opened her car door and sat Annabelle inside. She then hastily grabbed her first aid kit and took out some antiseptic wipes and some bandage.

Running back to Annabelle she lifted the girls legs.

"Okay Belle this is going to sting a bit…" Claire frowned and tried to keep a smile on her face. A lot of blood was coming out of Annabelle's knee and she could only imagine what Wesker would say if he were here. 'It is nice to see how capable of watching my child.' He would say calmly before he beat the shit out of her.

Claire pressed the wipe against the wounds on Annabelle's knee, the girl let out a hiss and Claire had to admit that the girl was doing much better than she would have expected from a six year old. Claire frowned as she wiped away the red from the knees, for all of the blood there was hardly any wound. There was some rub marks and some torn skin but all in all her knees were pretty clear. Once the wounds were clean she stuck the bandages on top of the wounds.

"Claire…" Annabelle looked up with teary eyes. "It hurts."

Claire smiled reassuringly. "You'll be okay." She moved to put away the first aid objects.

Annabelle smiled weakly. "Daddy told me not to do that…" she looked down aat her knees and tapped them, wincing as the pain hit her. "But I did anyway and now I'm saw…"

Claire put the box away and walked back to Annabelle. "Come on, I'll get you some ice cream and we'll head back home."

Annabelle's face instantly brightened and she strapped herself into the car. "Yay ice cream!" her voice was cheerful and filled with happiness, and all of a sudden the wound on her knee was something of the past.

X

"Here we are Belle." Claire said as they pulled into the driveway of Annabelle's house. The house was a white double story weatherboard house that looked as though it was well looked after, the wood was sparkling white and the roof tiles had hardly a mark. The front yard was all fresh crisp green grass with a rose hedge serving as a fence, it was the kind of house that Claire had always wanted, it was normal, it made a statement of a perfectly normal and happy life- too bad she could never have such a house.

Annabelle frowned and looked at the house with sad eyes. "I don't want to go home." She crossed her arms defiantly- an act that disturbed Claire. "I want to stay with Claire some more."

Claire frowned at the way Annabelle was behaving, this wasn't her sweet little Belle, no this was nothing like her sweet little Belle. Claire's eyes widened at her thought, why was she thinking of Belle as her own? She looked down at the girl. Annabelle's arms were clenched tightly and her lips were pulled tightly into a dark frown, surely Annabelle did not hate her home this much?

"Hey it'll be okay, I'll see you again- really soon." She let out a smile and tried to reassure the girl. Suffice to say it did not work.

"I want to stay with you." she said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a growl.

Claire's frown deepened, what was wrong with Annabelle? This was nothing like her, what could be causing her to not want to go home? "How about I take you in?"

Annabelle still frowned but she seemed a bit more happy as she uncrossed her arms and began to unplug her seatbelt. "Okay Claire." She finally answered as she opened the door and climbed out of the car.

Claire followed after her and the pair walked towards the house. Once they reached the white wooden door with rose stained glass panels Claire gave the door a knock. The pair waited for a few moments before Claire heard the sound of footsteps and the door opening.

The woman who opened the door –Annabelle's Aunt- smiled at first in greeting before frowning as she realised who was at the door. Annabelle's Aunt, Emilia, was a tall Spanish woman. She was thin and bony, as though there wasn't a scrap of meet on her. She looked almost emaciated with how thin she was, however that is not to say she wasn't attractive in her own way. Her lips were full as was her long thick wavy hair, and although she was very thin Claire couldn't help but notice how full the woman's breasts were. Emilia was wearing a simple white dress that went down to her ankles with a pair of white sandals.

Emilia looked down at Annabelle with a look of disdain before glancing at Claire with a similar look. "It's you two." She said the words as though there was a bad taste in her mouth. "How nice to see you, do come in." with that said she turned on her heel and walked back towards the kitchen where Claire could smell something very tasty being cooked.

Claire and Annabelle walked into the main hallway of the house, the hallway consisted of doors which led to the living room, Kitchen and bathroom, as well as the stairs which led to the bedrooms. When they shut the door behind them the voice of Annabelle's uncle flowed from the living room.

"Girl you have a job to do."

"Yes sir." Annabelle said sadly and headed towards one of the rooms in the hallway.

Claire wasn't sure why, but she had the urge to follow her, so she did. She followed Annabelle down the hallway and into the laundry where a basket of dirty clothes sat next to the washing machine. Claire watched as Annabelle opened the lid of the washing machine and began to load it with clothing.

'Are those her clothes!?' she thought angrily. Were they making her wash her own clothes!? She was only six, what kind of people would do that!? Anger took her, an anger she hadn't felt since she had punched that senator bastard. "Are these your clothes?" she asked calmly.

Annabelle looked up with sad eyes but a smile on her face. "Yes." She said quietly. "I live with them for free so I need to do my own things." She loaded more clothing into the washing machine- the machine was a top loader, Claire noted that Annabelle had to stand on a stool to reach the top.

Claire's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed darkly- what kind of people made a six year old do their own laundry? Especially Wesker's child of all people. "What else do you have to do?"

Annabelle looked at her with a strange expression. "I also make my own food and my bed?" she shrugged and went back to her work.

Claire's eyes went wide and for the briefest of moments she saw red. "Annabelle." She said in a very scarily calm voice. "Do you have your Daddy's phone number?"

Annabelle looked at her strangely for a few moments before smiling. "Yeap I'll go get it!" she jumped from her stool and scurried out of the room and up the stairs.

While Annabelle was upstairs getting the phone number Claire took it upon herself to finish putting Annabelle's clothes in the washer as set them to wash. When Annabelle came back she smiled and said a 'thank you' to Claire before handing her the number.

"Why do yoo need it Claire?" she asked with her head tilted in confusion.

Claire looked down at the number. She might not be able to do anything for Annabelle at the current moment but she was going to make sure something was done- by the gods would she make sure.

"I want to give your Daddy a call Belle."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: The next darling chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 13

A weekend with Claire

Wesker sat at his desk in a small plain white office room, which consisted of his desk, a filing cabinet and, his chair and his laptop. Wesker didn't need much more he was only using this room to type up some research so there wasn't any need to have anything else in the room- not that he would have needed to considering he was planning to move to another facility soon.

While he typed away at his laptop a smile took his face as thoughts about a certain Redfield took his mind. He wondered briefly how the woman was and how she was dealing with the aftermath of their last meeting- be briefly considered calling her for a bit of torment, but decided against it, now wasn't the time, no matter how tempting.

"Who are you thinking about that would give you such a smile?" he looked up to see Elle leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed and a truly smug expression on her face. He noted that she had changed since the incident this morning and was now wearing her usual grey suit and heels.

Wesker didn't show it, but he was pleased that she was back to her usual self, depressed people made for sloppy work and he was running a tight schedule- at least that's what he told himself. He halted in his typing and placed his hands in his lap, he looked quite relaxed in that moment and it caused Elle to grin. She had a pretty good idea who her boss was thinking about.

It was in that moment that the sound of Pattie Paige singing 'How much is that doggie in the window' flowed through the room, originating from Elle's jacket's pocket.

Wesker raised his brow at the song that Elle had chosen for the phone. His eyes twinkled with amusement from behind their glasses as he watched her fumble through her jackets inner pockets to find the phone.

Elle made an 'ah-ha' sound once she had taken the pink phone out of her pocket, at first she went to flip it open but she paused and looked at Wesker with a furrowed brow.

"This phone is Whitman industries?" she asked confused.

"International." Wesker corrected smoothly before going back to his typing.

Elle nodded and answered the phone. "Whitman international holdings, how may I connect your call?" she answered with a very cheerful tone that almost made Wesker snort, it was such a fake voice and he half expected Elle to start filing her nails as she spoke with it.

"Uh-hu." She answered slowly, something that made Wesker raise a brow, he continued with his typing but he paid a little more attention to Elle than he would care to admit.

"I see…" Elle glanced at Wesker with an expression that clearly said 'you're in trouble'. "Hang on sweetheart I'll just fetch him for you." she chuckled darkly and walked over to Wesker holding the phone out to him. When Wesker took the phone her grin widened and she mouthed 'think of the devil and he shall come'.

Wesker's brow raised further and he placed the phone to his ear. "Yes?"

"_Wesker?"_ Came Claire Redfield's somewhat angry voice from the other end of the receiver. His brows raised higher than he thought possible as he heard her tone- did she really think she could speak to him in that manner?

"Whatever is the reason for you gracing me with a phone call?" his tone was smug and it was more than obvious to Elle who was still standing there that her boss was in a rather playful mood. However Elle had heard the tone of voice that Claire had used and it was more than obvious that the Redfield was not in the mood for playing.

Elle watched with amused eyes as Wesker marginally moved the phone away from his ear, it wasn't by much, maybe a fraction, a flinch, but she caught it and it made her smile. Claire obviously wasn't all to impressed with the way that Wesker had just spoken to her. Elle's smiled broadened as Wesker noticed her laughing at him and frowned. He then made the motion for her to get him a drink. Elle let out a sigh, of course Wesker would get rid of her while he had what had to be the phone call of the centaury.

'I really want to hear it…' she thought to herself as she walked out of the room to get her boss a drink.

"No Miss Redfield what is the problem?" Wesker asked once Elle was out of the room-he briefly wondered where the Redfield woman acquired his phone number but decided that it could wait, if the reason for her calling him was that important that she had actually bothered to find his phone number then he could deal with it.

"_We need to talk about Annabelle."_ Claire replied. She was currently sitting in her car outside of the girl in questions house.

He lazily leaned against his desk. This was going to be interesting. "Oh, Miss Redfield?"

"_Oh indeed."_ Came her reply and Wesker found himself smiling. Just what had gotten her so riled up? _"Do you actually talk to her relatives at all?"_

Now that got Wesker's attention. Just what was Claire talking about? Of course he spoke to her relatives, his daughter was living there.

At that moment Elle came walking back into the room with a glass of water in her hands. She carried the glass over to Wesker and placed it on the table in front of the man. She then walked back to her previous spot, there was no way known that she was going to walk away- she really wanted to watch this.

Wesker picked up the glass and held it casually in his hands. _"Wesker I think you need to have a chat to Annabelle's family- if you don't god knows I will."_ Came Claire's voice, it sounded a little calmer, but not by much.

Wesker looked somewhat amused. "Pray tell, Miss Redfield why would you care about my child's family." He glanced up at Elle and frowned as she grinned and moved to sit on the floor in front of him in a manner very similar to a pre-schooler.

Claire's next words were so loud and angry that Elle could hear them from where she was sitting. _"Wesker they're treating her like crap, they yell at her and make her do her own laundry, cook her own food- Wesker right at this very moment she's cleaning the bathroom. The bathroom Wesker!" _The loud sound of something shattering filled the room and Elle stared with wide eyes at the broken glass in Wesker's hand.

Wesker's hand continued to clench tighter and tighter as Claire continued with her rant of how awful Annabelle's relatives were. While Elle watched the scene unfold she cringed continuously as the sound of the glass crunching into his hand continued to fill her ears. She knew that it couldn't possible be hurting him, but there was just something about the sound of crunching glass that made her uncomfortable.

"I see…" Wesker finally said when Claire had halted in her rant. "Thank you for informing me of this Miss Redfield. I shall be contacting you shortly." With that he removed the phone from his ear and hung up. Without even missing a beat he proceeded to dial another number and waited for them to answer.

"Mrs Forbes." He said after the phone was answered. "I don't believe you need to ask who I am Mrs Forbes." There was a dark undertone to his voice and Elle decided that it would be very smart to take her leave. She slowly rose from the floor and started to sneak towards the door.

A loud bang made Elle jump and she looked back to see Wesker looking at her with his brows raised, his red eyes were shinning through the glasses. She smiled weakly and went back to sit back on the floor. As she stared at her boss with wide eyes, only one sentence went through her mind.

'Wesker is fucking pissed.'

XXX

Claire sat in her car staring down at her phone. Wesker had said that he would call her back, what did he mean by that? Was he going to talk to Annabelle's family- she bloody hoped he did, because she was not going to leave until something had been done about this! It was disgusting, who made a six year old do those sorts of things.

Resisting the urge to bang her head against the steering wheel she glared at the house. All she wanted to do was go in there and take Annabelle away from there, and as much as she hated to think about it, she sincerely believed the girl would be looked after better with Wesker.

She groaned. When she thought about it, she could understand getting children to do their own things, but making them do the laundry? Cook their own dinner? Clean the bathroom? That was just disgusting, and she didn't care how advanced the child was. No child should be cleaning a bathroom.

A long few moments went by before her phone rang again. Claire, who was a little stressed at the moment and still waiting for Wesker's call didn't bother to look at the caller I.D when she answer her phone with a statement of; "Wesker? What's happened with Belle?"

"_Claire…?"_ a voice that was most definitely not the voice of Wesker's and was actually her brothers replied in a shaky voice.

Claire wanted to cry, she really did. What in the world had she done to piss off some higher power that they felt the need to torment her in the way that they did?

"Hi Chris!" she tried to sound happy. Maybe if she acted like nothing had happened then Chris would just talk to her about whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about.

"_Claire…" _Chris' voice was icy and filled with something that Claire did not want to name. _"Why did you think I was Wesker?"_

Panic suddenly took Claire and the only words that went through her mind were 'shit', 'fuck' and other colourful words. Her heart stopped and it was only when Chris called her name again did she snap out of it and proceed to do something that would probably come back and bite her in the arse later.

"I'm sorry Chris but I think we'll need to talk about this later…" It was the very second after those words left her mouth that she hung the phone up.

Claire stared at the phone. Her hands shook slightly as she thought about the ramifications of her actions. To be blunt; Chris was going to murder her. Chris was going to cleave her head from her shoulders. It would be bloody and angry.

'I'm sorry Chris…' she silently sent a thousand apologies to her brother. Hopefully he wouldn't get too angry… who was she kidding? He was going to murder her.

The phone rang again and this time she checked the number before she answered. "Hello Leon?" she was a little confused, it wasn't very often that she received a phone call from the agent.

"_Hey Claire." _Came the smooth voice of Leon from he receiver. _"I was calling because I'm in the neighbourhood for a few days and was wondering if you wanted to get a coffee sometime? Maybe tomorrow?"_

It took Claire a few moments to realise just what was happening. Leon wanted to go out for some coffee? She shook her head at the strange day she was having. "Um sure that'd be great? Where do you want to meet up?"

"_I'll pick you up at your apartment at twelve?" _

Claire found herself smiling- this would be a nice way to spend her Saturday. "Sure I'll see you then?" Leon agreed and the pair said goodbye.

Claire put her phone away and sighed. She remained still for a few moments before she decided that it was time she left- Wesker was probably not going to call her back and it would look weird if she stayed parked out the front of the house, even if she did want to go back in there and take Belle away from those people. It just wasn't her place.

Sighing Claire started the ignition and set the car in reverse. It was as she began pulling out of the driveway that her phone began to ring again which caused her to curse loudly and slam the car to a halt. Cursing under her breath she put the car in park and fished for her phone in her pocket.

"Hello?" she snapped as she answered the phone.

"_Now, now Miss Redfield. Is that any way to address someone?" _Wesker's smooth drawl hit Claire's ear from the receiver.

"Wesker?" she couldn't believe this, after every other phone call she had received in the past ten minutes, his had to be the one she gets as she's driving.

"_Yes Miss Redfield. Were you expecting someone else?" _he sounded amused about something and Claire could picture him sitting with his laptop and a smug grin on his face. If only she knew how close to the truth she was.

"Cut the crap Wesker." She said angrily. She had had enough of the day and wanted it to end, so Wekser's tone was the last thing she wanted at the current moment. "What's happening with Annabelle?"

"_And here I thought that we could have a nice little chat. You are very rude miss Redfield." _She could feel his chuckle and it made her bristle with anger.

"Wesker." Her lips thinned and she clenched her eyes before taking in a breath of air and exhaling. "Please." She said softly. "Please tell me what's happening with Belle?"

"_I have found that at the current moment her home is unsuitable. I need to go down and remind her relatives just who they are looking after." _For some reason Claire found herself smiling at that statement, and as much as she hated herself for it, she really hoped that Wesker gave those bastards hell. _"As such I have deemed it imperative that she is relocated until her family has been dealt with- therefore I am entrusting Belle to your capable hands. Miss Redfield."_

"I-I what?" Claire stammered. She hadn't heard him right, surely?

"_I apologise Miss Redfield I assumed you had the cognition needed to understand such a sentence. I will endeavour to use short sentences with you in the future." _

Claire almost choked on air at his statement. He was teasing her. The bastard was teasing her? Though when it came to it she had to admit she must have seemed a little stupid with her stammering. Letting out a small chuckle Claire leaned into her seat.

"Ha ha very funny." She smiled at the chuckle he gave in response to her words. "Now seriously. I don't think I heard you correctly. You want me to take Belle. Annabelle. Your daughter."

"_Do not make me repeat myself Miss Redfield." _The serious tone was back in his voice. Claire must have said something that he did not appreciate.

"But why?" Now this was the million dollar question for Claire. She desperately wanted to know why in the world Wesker would entrust his daughter to Claire of all people. A Redfield. It was practically giving away something that his enemies could use as leverage against him. Not that she would ever consider doing something like that with a child, but still the fact remained.

"_It is not for an extended period Miss Redfield," _he seemed somewhat annoyed that she was asking him questions. _"I will be retrieving her tomorrow evening so please do not attempt anything…rash.." _from that statement Claire instantly knew that he was thinking something similar to her about using Annabelle as leverage against him.

She snorted. As if she would. Chris might have considered using Annabelle against Wesker if he were given the chance but Claire was not her brother and she was definitely not cruel or stupid enough to use the girl against Wesker. She shuddered to think what Wesker would do to someone who did.

"Okay I'll go get her." Claire said after a pause.

"_Good evening Miss Redfield." _Were Wesker's words before the line went dead- an indication that he had hung up on her.

Claire slumped into her chair and looked down at her phone, she had the strangest feeling going through her. She wasn't sure if the feeling was happiness or worry, on one hand Albert Wesker the epitome of assholes trusted her enough to leave his daughter in her household. On the other hand what if Chris or someone found out about Annabelle being in her home.

Shaking her head Claire moved to get out of the car- time to collect Annabelle. She smiled, at least the girl wouldn't have to scrub toilets anymore.

XXX

"Is this your home Claire?" Annabelle asked as they stood at the door to Claire's apartment.

Claire nodded and opened the door, she smiled as the girl ran in to have a look. She was a little surprised how easy it had been taking the girl away from her family. She had knocked on the door, Emilia had answered with Annabelle and a bag standing beside her. She had just let Annabelle go with her and Claire had found that odd, however when she had noticed how pale Annabelle's Aunt had looked she had found it was safe to assume that Wesker had said a few choice words to the woman.

Claire followed after Annabelle into the apartment. Claire's apartment was small, it consisted of a living room and kitchen joined, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a balcony- it was small but Claire liked it, she had never needed anything larger. However as she watched Annabelle look around her home she had a wave of what could only be called maternal instinct hit, she suddenly wanted a large home to accommodate for children.

"Claire?" Annabelle's voice snapped Claire out of her thoughts. She looked down at the girl who was happily bouncing on the white sofa.

"Yes Belle?" Claire walked over to the kitchen part of the room and took out two glasses from the overhead cupboards.

The little girl swung her legs on the sofa as she watched Claire pour some juice. "Why did daddy tell you to take me with you?"

Claire walked over to her with the gasses of juice in her hands. She passed one to the girl and she sat beside her. "I'm not sure sweety," she shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "I think he needs to have a talk to your Aunt before you go back there."

Annabelle nodded and drank her drink. "I want to see Daddy." She smiled at Claire. "But I get to spend more time with Claire sose I'm happy."

Annabelle let out a stretch and looked at the T.V. Claire noticed that the girl was tired, she couldn't blame her it had been a long day. Claire was honestly surprised that Annabelle had not fallen asleep in the car.

"Hey do you want to go to bed?" Claire asked while putting her glass down on the table.

At first Annabelle shook her head but then she let out a very large yawn which caused her to smile weakly at Claire and nod. It was in that moment that Claire realised that she only had one bed- which meant that it was probably better if Annabelle took the bed, Claire liked her couch anyway.

"Come on sweetie, lets get you to bed." She held her hand out to the girl and when Annabelle took it, the pair rose and Claire led her to the bedroom.

Claire's room in itself was very plain there was a double be bed in the middle with two drawers on each side. There was also a sliding door wardrobe built into the wall which was all mirrors on the doors. That was about it Claire didn't need much and whatever else she owned was in storage in the spare room.

"Here Belle, you can stay here." She directed Annabelle into the bed and helped the girl climb into it.

"Yoor bed is soft." Annabelle chimed happily as she snuggled under the blankets.

Claire smiled and nodded, she knew it was soft. It was a special bed that she bought because of her back pains from all of the fighting, the bed had cost her roughly two thousand dollars- which at the time had nearly caused her to go into cardiac arrest over. Though looking back on it the price as well worth it.

"Have a good sleep Sweetie." She smiled and brushed some hair out of Annabelle's face- the girl was such a sweetheart. With that she rose and walked out of the room, turned the light off and closed the door behind her.

Walking into the living room Claire sighed and plopped down on the sofa she was tired as well. Scooting into her couch she closed her eyes and thought about her day, it had been more than a little strange especially when Wesker had decided that she was going to look after Claire. However the more she thought about it the more she was okay with it, she had, after all had stranger days.

She felt herself dosing off and just as sleep was about to claim her she felt her eyes snap open.

"Leon!" she all but shouted. Shit how could she have forgotten that she was going to meet Leon tomorrow! How the hell was she going to deal with this? The man would have a heart attack at the sight of Wesker's child with her. But then what was she going to do?

She flung her arm over her eyes and groaned, why her?

XXX

Leon glanced at the little girl who was currently sitting with them at the table of the café he had driven them to. She seemed happy enough with her chocolate milk. His eyes moved to Claire who was smiling at the girl, there was something that had happened that he probably should ask her about but he couldn't bring himself to do it- he wasn't at work, nor was the girl of any threat to him so why should he bother with it? Though he had been extremely shocked when he had seen her with Claire and even now he was insanely curious.

"How is work Claire?" Leon asked trying not to think about what was going on between the woman and the girl's father.

Claire smiled lightly. "Its been alright, even though I do feel as though all my job is checking up on companies at times."

"Claire you're making a difference that's all that matters." Was his simple reply.

Claire pushed some of her hair behind her ear and gave him a small blush. "Thanks, it doesn't feel like it, but its nice to hear." She looked over at Annabelle. "Do you want some more soda Belle?"

Annabelle nodded and Claire left the table to get her some more drinks.

"Mr. Leon?" Annabelle looked up at him with curious eyes. When Leon looked at her and smiled she eyed him for a moment. "Do you like Claire?"

Leon nearly chocked on air, was she asking what he thought she was asking. He raised a brow, there was no way she was asking that. She must just be asking if she liked Claire as a friend, there was no way that the child would have any understanding of those sorts of things… was there?

"Yes I like Claire." He said finally. "She's one of my oldest friends, we've known each other for a very long time."

"I like Claire too." Annabelle smiled at him then leaned over the table towards him. "Can I tell you a secret." Her eyes looked from side to side in a 'shifty eyes' motion. Her actions made Leon want to laugh, she was adorable! Leon could really understand why Claire liked the girl.

"Sure you can tell me a secret." He leaned over so that she could whisper in his ear.

"I think daddy likes Claire too." Leon frowned and his brow rose higher. "I saw him kiss Claire."

Leon's heart stopped.

Review?


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter :) (I have a feeling some of you will murder me over this however)

Chapter 14

Fragments of the past

Maria let out a sigh as she walked down the stark white hallway of the facility. She was a little tired due to the fact that she had been up late for the past five nights, all because William had apparently had a 'breakthrough' in his research. Suppressing another sigh she turned a corner and glanced into one of the labs through the window.

She noticed that the people in the lab seemed to be rushing around and shouting at each other. She wondered what they were saying and what was the cause of their distress. Shrugging she continued to walk towards her office, on her walk she noticed more and more people running around their labs like headless chickens and yelling at each other.

'I know it's a Friday and most people want to get home for the weekend, but this is crazy…' she thought to herself as she walked through the cafeteria where the people were running crazily around.

As she walked through the cafeteria she noticed that all of a sudden the people around her went quiet. She stopped and looked around at the other scientists, their eyes were wide and focused on something at the other end of the hallway. Suddenly Maria heard it, the sound of footsteps. Slowly her eyes slid to the sight of a party of four people- one was Sergei, one was a grumpy looking middle aged man in a suit with dark blonde almost brown hair. The other two, however were the ones that caught her attention, children of about twelve, a boy and a girl with blonde, almost yellow hair who were wearing a pair of matching grey suits; the only difference being the girl was wearing a skirt.

'Why are there children here?' she thought to herself as she stared openly at the two. There shouldn't be children there, not in this level of the facility at least, to even have the opportunity to have a child in this level you needed to fill out fourteen pages in triplicate and have them signed by the bosses eighteen times.

She noticed Sergei give her a nod and smile through the corner of his eyes and she returned the smile. Her cheeks tingled as he winked at her and although she tried to hide it, she knew that he had seen the blush. She looked back at them slyly and instead of looking at Sergei she found her eyes drawn to the young boy with blonde hair. Upon looking at his pale skin and icy bluish eyes, something clenched in her chest. He looked so sad, he had to be about ten or twelve or something- no one his age should radiate with the sadness she could see in him- what was wrong with the boy?

She watched as the four left the cafeteria and Maria was left to stand there and stare at the empty space where they once stood- who were those children?

It took Maria a good thirty seconds before she snapped out of her stupor and realised that she had somewhere she needed to be. She turned and did her best rendition of 'power walking' to William's office. While she did this she couldn't help but notice how everyone else in the labs were running around like mad to do their work- she had a feeling it was going to be a crazy day.

X

When Maria arrived at William's office- hers by extension- she was met with the sight of William Birkin rummaging through his notes angrily muttering curses while Wesker stood with his arms crossed and a rather amused expression on his face.

"Troubles Birkin?" Wesker raised a brow as William muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'shut up bastard!' Wesker, Maria noted was not wearing his sunglasses today, they were sitting in his shirts pocket which added to Maria's list of strange sightings today.

"What is the matter with everyone today Senor Wesker?" Maria asked, her confusion allowing her Spanish accent to slip in.

Wesker regarded her with an expression of, dare she call it amusement? He leaned back against the desk that William was currently crawling under in search of something. "William is having a bad day." There was a tiny smile on his lips- of course Wesker would find Will's pain amusing.

Maria looked down at William whose entire body was now under the desk as he looked through the boxes of paperwork under it- she was a little surprised that he was able to fit under there, especially with all of the boxes, but then again the desk was the width of the wall and William was a small little man. She looked back up at Wesker who seemed to be observing her, she tilted her head, why would he be watching her? She shook her head deciding it didn't matter, Wesker was a strange little man.

"I can see he is having a bad day." She said in response to Wesker's statement. "What I would like to know is why?"

Wesker glanced down at William, the corner's of his eyes creased as he gave a tiny smile. "You could say that his 'rival' is here today." At the mention of the word 'rival' William let out a string of curses.

Maria blanched at that statement, she knew William was not the most popular person in the building but she didn't expect him to have a rival, he was probably one of the smartest people she knew- who could he consider a threat? She tried to think back and see if she had heard of a rival before and no, she could not remember even Annette mentioning one.

"Who is his rival?" she asked taking note that Wesker looked far to delighted about the entire situation.

Before Wesker could reply William let out a sound of glee as he crawled out from under the desk with a manila folder in his mouth. He stood upon coming out form under the table and grinning like a madman he held the folder up as though it were the Olympic torch. The sight was a little unnerving to Maria and as she took a glance at Wesker she could tell that he felt the same- there was just something a little scary about how William's bloodshot and baggy eyes along with his deathly pale face, looked so gleeful, it was almost like he was going to pull a gun out from no where and start shooting at them.

"Um… Will?" Maria spoke hesitantly not wanting to frighten the man who looked like he might need some serious sleeping pills.

Will let out a dark chuckle and clutched the folder to his chest as though it were the Christmas present he had been waiting for his entire life- it was a little frightening.

"I finally have a way to get that little witch!" he giggled. "These research notes along with my samples…" his shoulders shook and suddenly let out a shriek of laughter. "I'll finally outdo her!"

Maria looked entirely confused what in the world was going on?

Suddenly William's eyes were locked on her and she felt the urge to shrink into the wall he looked as though he wanted to murder her. "Next time you file things, do _not _touch the files on my desk." With that said he clutched the files to his chest and stormed out of the room.

Maria blinked, what was he talking about? He had told her to file the desk? "Hombres estúpidos que no pueden hacer por su cuenta." She murmured. (Translation: Stupid men who cannot make up their mind.)

Wesker placed his glasses on and moved to leave the room. "Who is the 'witch'?" Maria asked causing him to stop.

Wesker glanced down at the woman beside him, the hint of a smile had not left his face. A few moments passed before he replied simply. "The 'witch' rival of William's is the young Alexia Ashford who will be celebrating her twelfth birthday this year." With that said he continued to walk out of the room.

Maria stood in silence and stared at the wall, her brow was furrowed and her hands dangled limply at her side. William had a rivalry with an eleven year old? Her lips twitched and she let out a giggle. She bit her lips and tried hard not to let it out, but she couldn't, holding her sides she let out her laughter. It was a bright carefree laughter that most would not have heard in the building, it was the type of laughter that caused those who heard it to smile, two men in particular smiled at the sound.

XXX

Maria smiled and inhaled the rich aroma of her coffee, William had been out for quite some time while showing his research so unlike most days she really didn't have much to do. It was strange just being able to enjoy a coffee, usually she had to speedily drink her coffee while William worked her like a dog. She took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes, relaxing like this was really nice.

As she sipped her drink she looked around the cafeteria, there weren't many people in there today, they must have all been out running around like crazy.

As she scanned the room her eyes locked onto a shape in the corner, it was the boy from earlier who was sitting hunched over the table and appeared to be building a gun of some description.

'Isn't he a little young for a gun?' she thought to herself as she waled to the fridge. Once she was there she there she took out a juice box and walked over towards the boy at the table.

The blonde boy seemed completely content with what he was doing until he noticed a shadow covering his work, putting down the Walther he was working on he looked up at Maria who was holding the juice box out to him. He sneered, just who was this woman and why was she standing in front of him? Him of all people!

"And you are?" he asked with a bored tone.

Maria smiled. "I'm Maria, I thought you might like some juice." She placed the drink in front of him. "What's your name?" she asked.

The blonde stared down at the juice and raised a brow, just what was the lady playing at? He was somewhat tempted to tell the woman just who he was and what would happen to her if she didn't leave him alone but instead he opted to take the drink and indulge her- it wasn't as though his father or sister were with him, so what harm could it be?

"I," he paused for dramatic flare- Maria found herself inwardly grinning at that. "am Alfred Ashford." He watched with dark amusement as realisation took her. She knew who he was and why she should have just left him alone.

Maria looked down at the boy who was the son of Alexander Ashford, she knew that protocol from this point would be to leave him in peace but she just couldn't help herself. Something in her told her to stay.

"Do you mind if I sit?" she pointed to the chair in front of him and he nodded. Smiling she sat down. "Why are you in here? If you don't mind me asking, I thought that you'd be with your dad and sister in the research labs."

The deep frown that Alfred gave her was enough to tell her that something was wrong, and her mind began to supply her with thoughts of what could be the problem. Maybe he hated science or something?

"I don't see how that is any of your business." He glared and turned his attention back onto the Walther. Maria watched as his nimble fingers clicked the pieces back into place, it was like watching an artist, he obviously knew the gun very well.

"You like weapons?" she asked trying to get back onto the boys good side- from what she had heard, an annoyed Ashford led to bad things.

Alfred looked up at her and his face softened. "Yeah." He replied almost sheepishly and in a way that made his actually look his age. He awkwardly took the juice box in his hands and went about sticking the straw into it.

"Do you have many guns?" Maria asked, her smile widening as the straw refused to go into the juice box. It was a little thing like that which made him seem a little more human, the Ashford's were notorious for being typical nobles and the fact that the boy couldn't get the straw in helped pain a human picture of the family for her.

Pursing his lips Alfred tried to jab the straw into the box, but it just wasn't piercing the material. "Yes, I have a collection of over fifty different firearms." There was a pride in his voice as he spoke of his weapons.

"Do you want to be in the army?" she was asking a lot and while she was aware she was probably being annoying she just couldn't help herself, for some reason she felt the need to talk to him, something held her there.

He looked at her while he still tried to get the straw into the box. "You ask a lot of questions don't you?" he voiced her thoughts. "I suppose, one day I would like to receive some form of training."

"One day?" She countered taking the box and straw from him. "You sound like an old man, you're still young- go out and do it, join the army, get private lessons, have a life." As she finished her speech she passed him the juice box with the straw sitting inside ready to be sipped.

"It is none of your business what I do with my life." The upper class tone was back in his voice and it made her frown, just when she had felt as though she was getting somewhere he closed off again- he reminded her of someone else she knew. "Nor is anything I choose to do any of your business, I am Alfred Ashford and I am well above all you cretins." His glare was one that spoke volumes to Maria, it was more than him being a snooty noble, no this boy needed help, needed a friend.

"Calm down Alfred." She held back a smile as he blanched at her using his given name. "I didn't want to offend. I just want to be your friend."

Alfred went silent and stared at her, his eyes were wide and he looked as though someone had just told him that he had just been told that he had been born a woman. He didn't seem angry at her words however, he seemed to be confused though as though he had never heard those words before. Which was quite possible given his family life and for some reason that thought made Maria feel even sadder.

Alfred suddenly looked away and seemed to look at the cafeteria floor as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. "How did you get the straw into the box." He eventually said, a red tinge taking his cheeks.

Maria let out a laugh.

XXX

"I heard you met the young Ashford boy." Maria turned to see Sergei walking towards her. She was in one of the buildings long white hallways, it was the end of the day and she was heading home. She watched as Sergei headed towards her, the florescent lighting made the Russian look almost unwell, she was almost worried for him- it was the fact that most pale people looked terrible under the light that stopped her asking about his health.

"I did." Maria tucked some dark strands of hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear.

Sergei raised a brow. "What did you think of the young man?" he asked and gestured for them to keep walking down the hallway.

Maria's small heels clicked against the floor as they walked down the empty hallway. The building was mostly empty and would be empty for the weekend, save for maybe a few people who wanted to do overtime.

"Why are you interested Senor?" she asked.

Sergei shrugged and placed a hand on her back as they turned into the lobby, which was probably the most colourful room in the building with is black tile floors, red walls and black ceiling- not to mention the giant umbrella logo on the floor in front of the pine reception desk.

"I feel the boy's cognitive is completely normal, but socially, emotionally the boy needs help." She answered his questions as they walked out of the building and into the cold, she let out a shiver as the wind hit her face. "He needs a friend." Her hands came to wrap themselves around herself, why had she not worn a jumper? And why in the world had she chosen to walk to work today? She was going to freeze.

"Does he now?" Sergei quipped, she wasn't sure why but he apparently found that interesting. He began to lead her through the car park.

She nodded and tried not to think about the fact that she was freezing. "Yeah, he loves his sister a lot bus she appears to be the only person he communicates with- poor thing, can get almost anything he wants in the world but he is alone, private schooling can only go so far he needs to be free."

Sergei let out a chuckle, which earned him a questioning glance. "There are not many my dear, who would have such kind emotions towards the Ashford boy, his sister yes, the boy, no."

Maria shook her head and let out a cough. "This is why de boy needs a friend." Her accent slipped into her voice as she spoke. "If it were me I would be behaving in the same manner." She let out another cough.

The Russian at her side shook his head and came to a stop. It was only then that Maria realised that she was standing in front of a car that was most definitely not hers- one: it was way to expensive for her and two: her crappy-by-comparison car was sitting in her apartments parking lot.

"Would you care for a ride?" he asked opening the passenger side door.

A squall of thoughts hit Maria at once, if she went into that car would it just be a lift home? Would it be a lift home and sex? Would it be sex then a lift home? Or would she just not make it home at all? She eyed the car with trepidation, on one hand the possibilities were tempting but on the other she hardly knew the man- even if he was such a nice man!

He made a questioning sound that made her jump. She let out a cough and realised that she was being pretty stupid it was probably the coldest night in summer and here she was having second thoughts about a ride home? What kind of idiot was she?

Smiling at Sergei she put a hand on his arm. "A lift home would be wonderful, Gracias." She then climbed into the car.

XXX

"Traitor." Was the first thing William said to her when she walked into the office the next morning.

Blinking in confusion Maria wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Pardon?" is the word she eventually chose to go with.

"You were making friends with the enemy." He replied as he continued to look at a sample through the microscope.

"Which enemy?" her brows furrowed, was he talking about Sergei yesterday? But how would he know about that?

"That little witch's brother." Was all he said as he wrote some notes about the sample.

A wave of relief that took her and she let out a sly smile. "Will I'm sure you'll get over it." She walked over to him and patted him on the back. "Would you like some coffee?" when he shook his head she looked over to Wesker who was reading some documents on a clipboard. "What about you?"

Wesker looked up from his notes and regarded her silently for a few moments, although she couldn't see his eyes past the glasses she knew that he was thinking about something. Eventually he nodded.

"Okay so two coffee's" she smiled and looked back at William. "Are you sure you do not want one?"

"Traitor."

She let out a laugh. "I'll bring you a juice then." She went to leave the room.

"I want a blueberry one." She heard William mumble which led to her letting out a chuckle.

Traitor indeed.

A/N: I couldn't get the ending right in this chapter… hmm… Leon next chapter!

Review?


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Latest chapter I hope you like it! ;)

Chapter 15

The beginning

Leon looked at Claire through the corner of his eyes as he drove them home, Annabelle was in the back seat but it wasn't her that he was focusing on. No, his mind was focused on the Redfield beside him and the words that Annabelle had said.

'I saw him kiss Claire.'

The words echoed through his head like a mantra, of all of the things he could have been told by somebody this was one of those things that he really did not need to know about. He pulled into the car park of her apartment building and took the first park he could find, he really just wanted to take her back to her room and talk to her about what Annabelle had said.

The walk to her apartment seemed to take forever, which was strange as Annabelle singing various songs would have made the trip fly by, however it seemed as though they only made the trip longer- though it could have just been in Leon's head considering he was still mulling over what he was going to say to Claire.

When they finally reached Claire's apartment Leon only snapped out of his thoughts when he was seated on Claire's couch and she was passing him a cup of coffee.

"Sorry Claire what did you say?" he asked as he realised that she had said something.

Claire tilted her head as though she was thinking something, not that he could blame her- it wasn't everyday that Leon was caught off guard. "I asked how long you had time off work?"

Leon took the tea from her and had a small sip- briefly he remembered a time when he had hated the very idea of coffee, he had been young then and the time was less stressful, there was something about biohazards and getting into danger nearly every day that creates a sudden liking of the caffeine drink.

"I've been given three days- they want me on some important job so they want me up to speed." His eyes followed Claire as she sat beside him. His eyes then shot towards Claire's room where he heard the toilet flush, Annabelle was obviously finished- he needed to talk to Claire before the girl came back- he just hoped that the episode of Adventure time that Annabelle was watching in the bedroom would run a little longer.

Claire nodded and took a sip of her drink. "I'm going to admit I'm surprised that you wanted to spend a day with me then- I mean I'm glad I get to see you, its just that you hardly ever get time off and I thought-"

Leon shook his head and let out a chuckle. "Claire, you're one of my oldest friends and I don't get much time to spare, so when I was given this time you were the first person I called," okay so he was lying, she wasn't the first person he had called, she was the second but in his own way he was grateful that Ada hadn't answered, otherwise he wouldn't have had the opportunity to discuss Claire's relationship with a certain blonde sociopath.

The red that Leon had expected to tinge her cheeks did not appear and instead a weary smile took her face, it was an expression that shouldn't be on her youthful face. It made him wish that she had never been exposed to the world of biohazards, if it weren't for that she probably would have a normal life at the moments… not one being marred by Wesker.

"Leon I'm glad we're still friends…" she took another sip. "I think its amazing honestly that one of us hasn't died."

Leon let out a chuckle. "Thanks for the faith in my ability to live." They both let out their own little chuckle before a silence took them, it was one of those silences where it wasn't awkward for one party member but the other was stuck in a swarm of thoughts.

"Listen Claire…" he started thinking very carefully about his next words. "I need to ask you something." He put his mug on the coffee table and looked up at her with eyes so intense that Claire felt her mouth fall open.

Claire licked her dry lips. "Y-Yes Leon?" Leon was so close to her that if it were any other man she would have thought he was going to kiss her.

"Is it true about you and Wesker? Did you kiss him?"

XXX

Elle frowned as she plopped into the bed of her apartment. Her room was large, but did not look it as it was filled with large wooden shoe trunks in one corner a walk in robe that was bursting with clothes and coating her floor was an array of different weapons- some guns, some knives and some explosives there was also a wooden basket filled with mobile phones next to the bed. Across from her bad were two doors, one leading into her en-suite and the other into the rest of her apartment.

Sinking into her black satin sheets Elle pulled the blanket on top of her and closed her eyes- it was still day time and while she was aware of that she wanted to get some rest before she had to get up at one in the morning.

'God this bed is comfy.' She thought, most days she wished that she never had to leave the bed, but she supposed that when you are Wesker's assistant you don't really get to spend your day in bed, regardless of what she wanted.

She snuggled in deeper into the bed, gods she was so comfy… she felt her eyes get heavy as she slipped off into her dream world.

Her paradise was interrupted however as her bedroom door was opened. Her eyes shot open and she shot up and her blue eyes locked with a cooler set of blue.

"Al!" she glared at him as she sat up properly, the blanket pooling at her waist. "What that hell do you want?"

Al remained silent. His eyes were wide and locked onto a part of Elle's body, and took Elle a grand total of ten seconds to realise what he was looking at, her C-sized chest. Her eyes flared and she went to yell at him before she realised that he was within his rights to stare- she had gone to sleep naked.

Elle let out an 'eep' and flung the blanket up and onto her chest. Contrary to popular belief, Elle did not want Al looking at her chest or body in these kinds of situations- that's not to say she didn't want them to explore each other's body, but she would rather it be in a more intimate and deeper setting.

Cheeks red Elle tried her hardest to smile, but it ended up looking awkward. "What can I help you with Al?" she asked, her voice was soft and almost weak.

Al shook his head as though pulling himself out of his trance. He ran a hand through his perfectly slicked back hair and stepped further into the room. He continued walking until he reached the bed, he then proceeded to slowly sit on the edge of the bed, his black clothes matching the bed sheets perfectly.

"Elle I…" he leaned closer towards her. "I want to know how you feel about your job- you have been behaving strangely all day."

Elle let out a weak laugh and rested her head on her free hand. "I know I'm being odd Al…" she shook her head as she felt a familiar sting. "I just… can't face him, I think of this job and that I'm going to have to face him again… I…" she shook her head.

Al reached out and touched her shoulder, it was surprisingly tender of him and if Elle hadn't experienced this side of the man she wouldn't have believed it existed given the mans past, but when it came down to it she was glad she had his support- he was the closest friend she had.

"Do you want me to do it for you?" he asked quietly as he rubbed her shoulder.

Elle looked up at him with wet eyes. "No…" her answer was sad but honest. "I… I need to do this," her spare hand reached over and covered his on her shoulder. "If I don't this is going to haunt me for a very long time." She let out a laugh and added as an afterthought. "Besides Wesker would have a hissy fit if he knew that you had done it instead of me."

Al let out a chuckle and Elle took note of his laughter, she could remember in the past when he had laughed it was the laughter of a truly disturbed man, now however his laughter was that of someone who was happy, someone who had hardly anything to worry about in their life.

"Was their something else you wanted?" she asked softly, removing her hand from his.

Al tilted his head and gave her a sly smile as he rose to his feet. "Well I did want to tell you about the chocolate ice cream cake sitting on the dining table," his grin widened as he reached the door. "But if you want to go to sleep, well more for me." With that said he slid the door shut.

Elle let out a laugh and charged at the door, forgetting again that she was naked she flung the door open and charged at him. "I want cake!" she laughed in a carefree manner.

Al, in response chuckled and threw a slice of the cold substance at her. The icy cake landed directly onto her chest and slid down her stomach. She let out a shriek of horror and ran back into her room.

"Y-You bastard!" her voice was something of a laugh and a shriek at the same time.

As she rushed to get her clothes on she heard the rich sound of his laughter and she grinned- he may be a complete and utter smart arse, but she wouldn't be caught without him.

XXX

Claire's heart stopped and her lips went dry. Had he just said that? Were the words that had just come out of his mouth really what she had just heard what she thinks she just heard? But how would Leon know about that? She hadn't talked about it to anyone and the only way he could have possible known about that would be if he had seen it and that was impossible… wasn't it?

"L-Leon." She choked on her breath as she tried to focus her thoughts, how would you answer something like that?

"Claire." Leon's voice was firm, cold. It was like nothing she had ever heard come from the agent.

_Lie_. A voice in the back of her mind told her. _Lie and he'll drop it. _She opened her mouth to lie, only she couldn't find the words, it was harder to lie to Leon than telling the truth. She exhaled sharply and tried to even her breathing.

"W-Where did you hear that from?" she was stalling and both of them knew it, oh if only she knew what to say. In the back of her mind she realised that if it were Chris she probably would have lied her arse off but there was just something about Leon that invoked her need to speak the truth.

"Claire." Gods she wished he would stop saying her name and just talk to her.

"Leon I-"

"Claire." His voice was getting impatient and Claire could tell he was going to snap at her soon.

"Yes." She said quietly before she even realised that she had said it. "He kissed me…"

Leon stared at her with hard eyes for an undefinable amount of time. "Claire… what happened?" his voice was harder than he intended but he couldn't help it and Claire couldn't blame him for it.

Claire looked away and stared at her television, which was switched off so all she ended up seeing was the reflection of Leon and her. Her mind went back to that day, when Wesker had flung her into the wall and kissed her. She licked her suddenly dry lips.

"I… I don't know how it happened Leon." She ran a hand through her hair and took a sideways glance at him. "One moment he wanted to talk to me about something… the next minute…" she trailed off and Leon got a pretty good idea just what 'the next minute' was.

"How did you let that happen?" He spoke, his voice sounding almost distressed.

Claire shook her head. "I don't know how it happened Leon!" her fists clenched. "I didn't have much of a choice!"

Leon's eyes flashed dangerously. "He forced you?"

"What no!" Claire snapped before she could stop herself. In the back of her mind she realised that she was defending Wesker, but how could she not? On top of everything else that Wesker was accused of, did he really deserve to be labelled a pervert?

"Claire." Leon frowned. "What is going on with you?"

Claire shook her head. "look Leon, I don't know what's going on, he didn't force me, but I didn't want it to start off with…" she let out a weak laugh. "It was intense…"

Silence took them both as they stared into nothing, the only sounds that could be heard was the giggling that was coming from Claire's bedroom. Claire closed her eyes as she waited for Leon to yell at her, to tell her all sorts of things that she had already thought about herself.

"Claire I'm not going to condone this, but I'm not cruel so I wont tell Chris," at he sigh of relief he continued. "I'll repeat what I said in the hotel, you need to tell him."

"Leon, you know I can't he'd flip and anyway it's only happened once and it wont happen again so why should I bring up something that'll only hurt him." Her argument was weak and she knew it, but couldn't fathom a way that she could tell her brother.

"Claire…" Leon sighed worry etching his face.

Claire smiled warmly at him. "Don't stress Leon, I'm a big girl I'll look after myself."

"Claire I-" whatever Leon was going to say was cut off as Annabelle came skipping into the room singing 'this old man'.

"This old man he play two! He played knick-knack on my shoe with a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone. Dis old man came rolling home!" Annabelle's childish voice was a refreshing change for Claire from her current position.

Leon looked over at the child and smiled if he wasn't aware of the girls existence he probably would have been more angry at Claire for what she has done, but as it were he couldn't help but feel as though he could understand why she may have kissed Wesker- she had obviously seen something in him that the rest of the world had not.

"Claire what are we doing for dinner?" Annabelle smiled and plunked herself on the couch beside Claire.

Claire looked over at the girl. "I don't know, what do you want?"

Annabelle pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. "Can we have some espeggtti?" She clasped her hands together and gave Claire a perfect 'puppy dog' look.

Claire nodded and smiled. "Sure, do you want to help me make it?"

Annabelle nodded and clapped her hands. "Yay!" she kicked her legs happily. "Is Mr. Leon staying too?"

Claire turned her head to look over at Leon- after what had just happened between the two of them, she wondered if he would stay, and she wondered if it would be awkward or not. The situation at the moment was very delicate and Claire couldn't picture him staying for tea being a calm and happy affair.

Leon however seemed to feel differently to her as he decided that he would be staying for tea, on the condition that he helped them cook which turned out to be a highly amusing affair…

"Belle can you put some salt in the pot with the spaghetti?" Leon asked from the counter of the little kitchen while he chopped up some vegetables.

Annabelle who was wearing Claire's white cat pattern apron climbed onto the chair next to the stovetop. "Yup yup!" she shook some salt into the pot.

Claire looked over at Annabelle as she looked into the pot of pasta. She looked adorable! The apron was far too big for her and was hanging down from the chair like a blanket. Her sleeves were also rolled up and it made her look like a little chef, she was so cute!

She then glanced over at Leon, she was completely surprised that he had chosen to stay, she had honestly thought that he would have ran off the very moment he had the opportunity. She smiled, she was glad he was her friend.

"Um Claire?" Annabelle asked.

Claire jumped from her thoughts and looked at the girl. "Yes?"

"How do we tell if the pasta's cooked?" she stirred the pot.

"Well, when I was little my mum always told me to throw a piece at the wall and if it sticks then it's ready." She quickly poured the sauce over the mince and stirred the meat sauce.

Reaching over with a fork she scooped up a piece of spaghetti and flung it at the wall in front of them. She grinned as it stuck to the wall. "It's nearly ready!"

Annabelle grinned and let out a cheeky giggle.

"Sounds like some mischief is happening." Came leon's smooth voice as he walked over with the plate of chopped up vegetables. He poured the vegetables into the meat sauce and mixed it.

Annabelle let out another cheeky giggle at Leon's words.

The dinner itself, much to Claire's surprise was rather nice, while she had expected it to be awkward with Leon she found it to be calming and in the end the dinner was over far too quickly and it was time for Leon to leave.

"Goodbye Leon!" Annabelle called out as she headed towards the bathroom to wash the spaghetti sauce off her hands and mouth.

"Well Leon." Claire said awkwardly as the walked to the door.

"Claire… I'll keep in touch." He stepped out into the hallway. A silence took the pair as they looked at each other, they both silently sending the other a message. "and Claire, be careful." He raised his hand in a wave and headed off away from her apartment.

Claire closed the door behind her and walked into the kitchen to start on the dishes. A small smile taking her features, Leon was such a sweetheart, she wondered how he really felt about the situation, but in the end she supposed it didn't matter as the fact that he was still speaking to her said far more than anything else could.

"Claire." Claire looked down to see Annabelle looking up at her with big eyes. "Can I help you clean?"

Claire smiled and moved the chair that Annabelle had used to help with dinner to the sink. "Here." She watched as Annabelle climbed onto the chair and started to rinse the dishes in the first sink, once she had finished she would pass it to Claire who would give it a proper wash and set it to dry in the rack. The dishes took longer than they usually would if Claire had done it herself but as she looked at how happy Annabelle was to be helping her, she didn't have it in her to stop the girl from helping.

Once they had finished the dishes Claire looked at the clock and found it to be nine o'clock and from the yawning that Annabelle was doing, it was time for a certain little girl to go to bed.

"Come on Belle, time for bed." She took the girls head and walked her to the bedroom.

"But I'm not sleepy…" she let out a yawn.

Claire chuckled. "Come on." Lifted Annabelle and laid her down into the bed. "Comfy?" she tucked her into the bed.

"I'm not sleepy…" the girl mumbled as her eyes closed and she turned into the blankets a light snoring sound swiftly followed.

Claire smiled at the girl and brushed the hair out of her eyes. Her eyes softened as she stood and left room. As she set the couch for her to sleep in she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the conversation that she had with Leon.

'_you need to tell him' _Leon's words echoed in her brain and for the briefest of moments she entertained the idea of telling her older brother, that is until her brain supplied her with images of her telling her brother. And boy, if she thought that locking her up in the hotel room on their vacation was bad, then telling her brother that she had kissed him… she shuddered Chris would murder her.

She spread the blanket out over the bed before picking up the pillow, she wasn't sure if she wanted to use the pillow, last night it had given her an awkward neck cramp so she didn't know whether or not to just use the couch's arm.

She was taken from her thoughts at the sound of a knock at the door. She raised a brow and dropped the pillow and walked over to the door. 'who the hell could it be?' she thought as she reached the doorknob. Slowly she opened the door, her eyes widening at the person standing on the other side.

"Y-You…" her fist clenched as she looked into the black specs sitting on Wesker's nose.

"Miss Redfield." His lips turned up into a smirk.

Claire's fist clenched tighter and a sudden rage took her, thoughts of her betrayal, her anger of him kissing her, his complete and utter uncaring attitude, her anger over Steve and his obvious use of her; every feeling she had towards him bottled up into her being before exploding from her fist into a right hook of epic proportions that landed squarely into Wesker's jaw.

Claire staggered back and rubbed her hand, gods he had a chin harder than steel- he had a chin so hard that he could easily be a candidate for a real life superman. Man of steel indeed. Although her hand hurt she was still angry at him, so without control of her body she reared back and launched herself at him.

Wesker who's brow's had shot up at her sudden attack stepped into the room and closed the door as she launched at him. His hand grabbed her fist and twisted her arm before throwing her at the coffee table. A loud bang sounded as she landed on the wood.

"Miss Redfield." Amusement filled his voice as he looked down at her, he briefly wondered what in the world had caused her to go into such a rage, perhaps stress?

Claire groaned and held her back as she slid off the table, oh boy she if she was angry a few moments ago, she was pissed now. She pulled herself off the table and lunged at him again, this time she went to kick him, his firm hand gripped her leg and his other hand grabbed her arm and he threw her at the wall.

Using the wall as support Claire pushed herself up and went to hit him again only to find herself pinned to the wall, his hands on either side of her shoulders.

"Now Miss Redfield…" Wesker drawled slinking in closer to her. His warm breath fanned over her face as his nose hovered above hers. "Whatever is the matter with-" whatever he was going to say was cut off as she kneed him in the groin.

Staggering back an inch was the only reaction that Claire got before she found a fist wrapped around her neck and she was slammed back into the wall. Her fiery blue eyes locked with his red- his glasses must have come off at some point. Her breathing was laboured and while she realised that she was acting nuts, she couldn't stop she was so angry she was-

Suddenly without warning she was pushed back into the wall harder than before and a pair of hot lips were on her mouth. Her response was almost instantaneous, her arms flung around his neck and she mashed her lips against his.

Their treatment of each other was almost brutal, their lips mashed against each other, their teeth gnashed together and their tongues fought against the other. Wesker's hand moved from her neck and behind her head, he lifted her head and pushed her closer while the other hand went down her hip and on her thigh, he lifted her and at the same time she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Claire gasped for air as his mouth moved from her and down her throat. Holding onto her rear he pushed her into the wall for added support, his hand kneading her rear as his teeth bit into the juncture of her neck. Claire's nails dug into his back as she gasped as she felt something hard pushing against her core, in response she pushed down against it and felt satisfaction in the groan that Wesker let out. The hand on her neck moved up, gripped her hair and pulled her head back to allow for better access to her neck. She groaned and bounced up and down against the member, relishing in the groans, tiny as they were that came from him. She vaguely realised that their position was changing from the couch to the floor, but all thoughts flew out the window as his hand went in her pants and she was taken by the winds of a violent passion in the form of Albert Wesker…

A/N: Umm… I wasn't sure how I was going to finish this chapter so I hope you guys liked this ;)

Review?


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Another chapter! I hope you all like it =D (I'm on a roll with the writing at the moment)

Chapter 16

The Morning After

The Mission

_These happy days are yours and mine!_

Elle groaned at the sound of her alarm and sat up. She buried her face in her hands and let out another grumble at the sound of the 'Happy Days' theme. She reached over and picked up the mobile phone that was sitting on the counter of her bed. Once the overly happy tune was switched off she rubbed her eyes and blinked, the room was pitch black and while any other person would not have been able to see into the darkness, but she was able to see just fine.

Sitting up she climbed out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom where she proceeded to climb into the shower.

"Oh this feels amazing…" she groaned in ecstasy as the hot water hit her back, the pressure causing the heat to almost massage her muscles. She turned in the shower and smiled as the water hit her face and torso, she slowly began to wash her hair.

The shower seemed to be over far too quickly and before she even realised it she had a towel wrapped around her and she was standing in front of her wardrobe pulling out her black leather stealth uniform.

She tucked some of her wet hair behind her ear and pulled back the other wed strands that were clinging to her body before she slipped into her black sports bra and her black g-string. She glared as she slipped on the g-string, she hated them, it wasn't as though she didn't find them attractive, it was just that she found them uncomfortable and if she didn't need them for the pants she was wearing she wouldn't have them on.  
She then pulled on her tight leather pants and a tight black turtle neck top once her clothes were on she pulled a pair of black leather combat boots which reached her ankles.

"Oh yeah I pull this off." She checked herself out in the mirror and smiled before she walked back into her walk-in-robe and pulled out a large black briefcase.

Plunking the briefcase on the bed she opened it with a click and pulled out the two silenced 9mm pistols inside and a shoulder gun holster. She slipped the gun holster onto her shoulders before slipping some ammo into the guns and putting the guns into the holster. She then took out two knives from the briefcase and slipped them into her boots.

"Oh this is going to be fun." She breathed, her voice was laced with sarcasm.

Slowly she left the room and entered her living room. She was surprised to find the lights on and Al sitting on their leather couch with a book in his hands. _Lolita _her brow rose at the book, she was a little surprised that Al was reading that of all books.

"What are you doing up?" she asked with the hint of a smile as she poured herself a cup of water from the kitchen space behind the living room.

Al didn't look up from his book as he answered. "I'm going to be your pilot this morning." He slipped a little black book mark into the book. "Or did you actually believe that I would allow you to fly my helicopter?" he put the book on the coffee table and lifted his bikers helmet that was sitting beside him.

She frowned, she actually had hoped that he would have let her fly the helicopter, but she chose not to argue. Once Al had made up his mind he didn't back down, he was also scarily protective of his helicopter so she supposed that she shouldn't have been surprised that he wanted to fly.

Al took her silence for the acceptance that it was and slipped his helmet on before standing up. He then walked to the wooden door that was the exit to their apartment and opened it, his head turned back to Elle in an expectant way.

Elle rolled her eyes and put her glass down on the counter before she complied to his silent wish. As they left the apartment Al locked the door and the headed down the hallway to the stairs that would lead them up to the room.

As they walked down the hallway Elle smiled at how normal the apartment building they lived in was. Contrary to popular belief the pair lived in a normal apartment in a normal part of town and lead a mostly normal life when they weren't doing jobs for Wesker. She found it amazing that the BSAA and or the government hadn't figured out that they were living there and come and blasted her door down. Though when she actually put thought into it, maybe that was the reason that nobody had come crashing down the door, because no one expected them to be in a normal home- it was a very good tactical decision on their part and she wondered why Wesker hadn't tried it yet.

As they walked up the stairs her legs felt heavy, but not the type of heavy often associated with sore muscles. They heavy that came with the feeling of apprehension was what she felt in her stomach and legs.

"Al…" she mumbled as they walked out onto the helipad. "Will you wait for me while I do the job?" she watched as Al let out a sound of agreement and nodded, an action that caused her to smile- at least he was there on the off chance she needed help… or to be bailed out at the last minute.

She slid open the door of their helicopter and climbed into the helicopter with Al. Closing the door she watched as Al started up the helicopter and they took off. While they flew out of the city and headed towards their destination Elle watched the city lights beneath them, she smiled at the little yellow lights. She loved watching the lights and riding in the helicopter, so she was having a pretty good morning so far.

X

The ride had taken only and hour and soon they found themselves landing on the hospital roof, which was a block away from Elle's destination. Elle let out a shaky breath and climbed out of the helicopter, she quickly reached into the helicopter and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

She walked to the edge of the hospitals roof and looked through the binoculars. She could see the top of the building that she needed to go, there were three armed guards standing on the roof of what appeared to be an old warehouse.

"Okay Al." she mumbled putting the binoculars down. "There's three of them on the roof- probably heaps in the building." She grinned back at him. "Piece of cake."

She threw the binoculars to Al who caught them with one hand while he tossed her a grapple gun with his other gun. She caught the gun and inspected it closely, her brow rose and she felt a smile tugging at her lips. "You stole this from Wong." She looked up at Al. "Didn't you?"

While she couldn't see through Al's helmet she could tell that he was smiling. Shaking her head she slipped on a pair of leather gloves that were in her pockets before she waved at Al. she then aimed the grapple gun and at a nearby building and set it off.

X

"Phil I hate doing night shift." Whined one of the guards standing on the roof.

The other guard 'Phil' sighed and took a sip out of his coffee. "I don't blame you- my wife cracks it at me every time I get this shift."

"At least your wife stayed, mines left me. Bitch took the dogs too."

"Hey Harv, what about your wife?" Phil turned and was met with the sight of nothing. "Harv?" he stepped forward before turning to look back at the other guard beside him. His eyes widened as he saw his partner passed out on the ground. His hand reached up to press the radio button, only to end up feeling a pinch in the back of his neck and his world going black.

'Piece of cake.' Elle thought as she lowered the guard to the floor. Once he was down she scoped the roof for an entrance. At first her eyes locked onto the roof door but she thought against it, it would be stupid, to say the least to take the main door. She eventually settled on using the air vents.

'Now I know what a T.V dinner feels like.' She bit her bottom lip to stop her from laughing.

She used her arms to push herself through the vents, she pushed herself for what had to be an hour before she was able to get a glimpse into the building. 'it looks just like a warehouse?' she looked into the building with confusion before she remembered something she had read in the jobs notes and from her own memories.

'The building's fake…' her mind supplied her. 'The facility is under the building.' With that in mind she moved a little fasted and with a little more noise at that revelation. Even with her added speed it still took her another half an hour before she found herself looking through the vents and seeing the sight of white halls and scientists that sent memories through her mind.

'Okay where is that room?' she thought to herself as she pushed through the vent. While she crawled she discreetly took photo's of some of the facilities test subjects 'I wonder how the public would feel if they found out about that Tyrant.' She thought to herself as she crawled past the subjects room- the Tyrant could smell her and she knew it, as the moment she passed it, the creature flipped out and started struggling in its binds. She was half tempted to stay and allow the creature to get free but she decided against it, she was here to collect one person and if able kill another.

"Hey do you hear something?" Elle stilled and glanced through a nearby vent. There were two scientists looking up at the vents, she was a little surprised that they had heard her. She held her breath and remained still.

"Really?" she heard one of the two say. "Where?"

"The vent." The other said and Elle could see them looking up at the ceiling to see if something was there.

"You're crazy." The other guy said.

"Maybe." The man said before the two walked off.

She let out a breath after a few minutes and then continued to crawl. Eventually the building looked like a maze, if it weren't for her high sense of smell she probably would have gotten lost by now. But as it were, the more the place looked like she was going in circles, she was actually going the right way.

As she crawled she would take occasional glances out the window and would watch as the government scientists would injects virus samples into people. She felt her eyes water as she heard their screams, she took a deep breath as she tried to control herself, it was hard as her mind kept going back to the twelve year old girl she once was, the girl who had been abused in more ways than one in this building.

She shook her head and continued crawling, she didn't want to go back to those days, she didn't want to think about the past. As that all it was, the past. She was no longer the scared girl. Beside's this time around, they were _not _going to get their hand on her.

As she got further into the building she saw the very person who she didn't want to see. She clenched her fists at the sight of the old man walking towards a room, the very same old man who had caused her so much pain, the same man who caused her nightmares… and the same room that she stayed in…

Unable to control the growl that left her mouth she turned into the venting that went to that room and crawled to that room. She looked down at the old scientist whose hair was thinning and there was a sizeable stomach pocking out. Her eyes scanned the room from what she could see through the vent, she could see some syringes and other medical instruments sitting on the table beside a gurney. She squinted her eyes and moved her head so that she could see who was lying on the gurney. A dark smile took her face as she saw who was on the bed, it looked like she was going to be able to have her cake and eat it.

"Now Manuela how are you today?" The Old man picked up a notepad and looked over the notes.

Manuela made no sound and looked away. Her face was sunken and pale, her hair had been shaved and their were scars on her skull from the experiments that had taken place on her. Her body was in no better condition, her skin had an orange tinge and she was thin, thinner than normal as Elle could see the outline of her bones. Then there was the girls arm, the arm which made Elle want to be sick there were lacerations that were still fresh that hadn't been cleaned, there were puncture marks from injections.

"Now, now Manuela its rude to not answer when asked something."

"Its also rude to treat a lady the way your treating her." The man turned, his eyes going wide at Elle who standing in front of the shut door with her arms crossed. Resting on her head was a faded red head band which should have sent warning signals off in the old mans mind.

The old man narrowed his eyes. "And just who are you?" his hand twitched towards the panic button. He jumped as a knife landed between his hand and the button.

"I wouldn't do that General." She said coolly. She stepped closer to the man. "Now I'm here to collect the little Miss here and you're not going to stop me."

The old man chuckled. "And why would I allow that?"

Suddenly Elle's hand shot forward and she gripped the mans throat, her face held no emotion as the man choked an and crunches were heard from his neck. While holding him with one hand she leaned down and pulled out a knife from her boot. As she rose she let go of his neck and pressed the knife into his neck. The only sound in the room being the sound of him sucking in air.

"Now I assume you would like to know who I am and why I want to hurt you, even if you don't I am going to tell you because I want to enjoy this." She pressed the knife closer and watched as small droplets of blood formed on the knife. "This is vengeance for everything you have done, what you did to me and what you have done to Manuela."

The old man spat at Elle who did not even bother to wipe it from her face. "This is for me."

"And just who are you?" the old man had the audacity to sound smug given his current position.

Elle smiled, the smile was cold and harsh and filled with nothing but hatred. "I am Sherry Birkin."

The man's eyes went wide.

X

Al looked at the clock inside the helicopter and sighed. He had been waiting for ages! He briefly wondered what in the world she was doing, she never took this long doing a mission. He let out another sigh and reached into the helicopter where a packet of cigarettes was waiting, he might as well do something to fill the time.

X

Elle tucked her head headband into her pants and lifted the scientists clothing that she had stripped off the old man whose body was now sitting in the nearby cupboard. Placing the clothes beside Manuela she began to undo the binds holding the girl to the bed.

"Can you walk?" she asked, giving the girl a sympathetic expression.

Manuela let out a cough. "Yes." Her voice was weak and Elle could tell that the woman's throat was raw.

Elle undid the binds on the girl and helped her sit up. Elle took note of how thin the girl's wrists were. Surprisingly thought Manuela was perfectly capable of standing which given the appearance of her legs seemed nothing short of a miracle. Elle felt her eyes sting as she remembered being in a similar position.

"I need you to wear this." Elle pointed to a full body biohazard protection suit that was hanging in the corner of the room.

Manuela nodded and walked over to the suit.

Elle tilted her head as she watched the woman follow her commands without question. "Are you okay? You're not exactly putting up at fight."

Manuela looked back at her with an expression filled with so much sadness, so much emptiness that it could have knocked Elle out.

"I do not care where you take me, I would rather die than stay here any longer. If going with you means that I may leave, even if you kill me I will take that risk." At the end of her speech Elle expected there to be tears, but instead there was only the sound of being tired. She watched with wide eyes as Manuela zipped open the suit and went about climbing into it.

While Manuela went about climbing into the suit Elle proceeded to climb into the old mans scientist uniform. She had made sure to be extra careful and made sure that none of his blood landed on it. She cringed as she slid his pants on, his scent was all over the clothes and she was going to take a very long shower when she go home to get the smell off her. The clothes were too big for her but she was able to adjust them with a belt and the business shirt and lab coat just looked a little baggy on her- more than a little baggy, if she really wanted to she probably could have worn the clothes as pyjamas; it was just a good thing that the 'General' was a short man.

"Okay Miss Manuela." Elle smiled as she watched Manuela slipped on the biohazard hat/helmet on. "We are going to walk out the front door, you are going to be 'taking a sample to an undisclosed location'." She held out a briefcase that had previously been on the floor.

Manuela nodded. "Are you sure this will work?"

Elle grinned. "This is pretty much how I got out of here last time."

X

Al dropped his cigarette as Elle wearing a baggy scientist suit walked onto the roof from inside the hospital, and trailing behind was whom he assumed to be Manuela wearing a biohazard suit. Snapping his helmet shut Al opened the helicopter's door and climbed in.

Elle walked to the helicopter and opened the passenger's side. She gestured to Manuela who placed the briefcase on the floor of the chopper and climbed in. She then took off the helmet and placed it on the chair beside her before strapping herself in. Elle gave the woman a smile before climbing into her usual spot beside Al. Closing the door she gave Al the signal to take off. They had places to be.

XXX

Jack Krauser was not a happy man. No if someone were to were to use the words Jack Krauser and 'happy' in the same sentence he would probably unload a few rounds of lead into their skull.

Running his hand through his hair he decided to take out his frustrations onto the poor punching bag that was innocently hanging beside him. Throwing punch after punch he tried to think about why he was so frustrated; and to be honest he wasn't sure. It could have been lots of things, it could have been the fact that hadn't been on a proper mission since Spain, or it could have been the fact that Elle was chosen to go and get Manuela out of that hellhole! He let out an angry sound and unleashed a flurry of punches into the poor bag, while throwing out some unsavoury words at the same time.

"Now Jack whatever could be the matter?" He growled at the sound of Ada Wong walking into the training room- didn't the bitch have better things to do other than annoy him.

"What the hell do you want?" He glared at her.

"I just wanted to see how you are is there any problem with that?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak. "There is if your not supposed to be here." Came a voice that was definitely not Jack's.

Jack and Ada turned to see Elle walking towards them. She had changed from the scientists outfit in the helicopter and was now just in her black combat uniform. She glared at Ada as she reached the two.

"What are you two doing?" she asked coolly looking between the pair.

Surprisingly Jack was the one who answered her. "I was just training when the butch comes and starts on me."

Elle crossed her arms and glared harder at Ada. "Really Ada can't you tell that the man is on edge, go find someone else to pester." She waved her hands at Ada in a way that someone would wave away an unpleasant odour.

"I need to give a report on the last mission." Ada replied dryly.

Elle sighed. "Go to Wesker's office, I'll be there in a bit." She watched with amused eyes as Ada glared and walked off in the direction of the office.

Once Ada was gone Elle turned to Jack and smiled. "Now Jack we need to have a little chat." At Jack's eye roll she giggled. "I'm serious, you want to hear this." She stepped closer to the man who was at least another foot taller than her.

"What?" Jack sounded unamused.

"There's someone I want you to meet-" at the sound of footsteps behind her she smiled. "ah here she is." She stepped to the side revealing Manuela who was wearing track pants and a top. "Jack, meet Manuela."

Manuela froze mid step as she locked eyes with Jack, since she didn't have any hair to fiddle with she reached for the fresh bandage on her arm and touched it. Her heart hammering in her chest as her eyes watered.

Jack took a slow step forward, something in his chest clenching at the sight of Manuela, as happy as he was to see her, his eyes instantly locked onto her appearance, what in the world had happened to her? He almost wanted to ask her but he couldn't find it in himself- there would be time later, right now was time to be happy.

"Manuela?" Jack started to walk towards her, the closer he got the more he more things he noticed about her, and the more he wondered about what those government bastards had done to her.

"Jack…" tears fell down her eyes. She let out a cry and charged at him with e speed that Elle didn't think was possible given her physical state. She flung herself into Jack's arms and sobbed into his chest, years of experiments, torture, and other injustices broke through her damn and she unleashed her pain through her tears.

Elle watched with wide eyes as Jack, in an action that was amazingly tender for him, clutched her to his chest and held her as she sobbed.

XXX

Claire smiled into the warmth surrounding her, she clutched the blanket on her and pushed herself back into the soft cushion surface she was lying on. Her eyes shot open as she realised what had happened last night. What she had done. _Who _she had done.

'Chris is going to kill me.' Panic took her and she shot up. She was lying on the couch? She frowned, she remembered passing out on the floor after her… erm… fifth mind blowing escapade with Wesker. But then how did she end up on the couch? And _why _was she tucked in?

She looked at around the living room, it was morning if the light was anything to go by and her room was spotless! There was no sign of the struggle that she and Wesker had experienced last night, the table was set up exactly as it had been before she had been flung into it, there were no marks anywhere that would show the multiple acts of athleticism that had occurred last night- hell the only proof that Claire had that Last night had occurred at all was the fact that she was wet and sticky in a very specific spot. She was even dressed!

The smell of fresh coffee hit her nose and she turned to see Wesker standing in her kitchen pouring coffee into two mugs. He looked impeccably tidy, his hair was perfectly slicked back and his clothes were completely straight as though they had been ironed; in fact, had he had a shower!?

"Coffee, Dear Heart?" he offered walking over to her with the mugs, he passed one to her, which she shakily accepted, and he sat next to her with the other.

"Did you have a shower?" Claire asked before she could stop herself. Her question caused Wesker to raise a brow, he had found his sunglasses she absentmindedly noted. "Sorry." She laughed nervously.

Her mind whizzed with thoughts about how screwed she was going to be when Chris found out about this- oh god what would Leon say? "Wesker, what happened last night?" her body obviously had found the strength to ask the question while her mind was struck with thoughts of the many creative ways she was going to die for this.

"I would think it was obvious what happened last night Dear Heart." She found herself laughing at his response, it was so much like him!

"I mean _what _was it? Where does it go from here?" A dark part of her mind told her that instead of asking such inane questions she should be seeing if he wanted to go for another round, but the other, more _logical _side of her brain told her that she needed to know where the hell this was going.

The next thing Claire knew Wesker had grabbed the back of her head and was kissing her furiously, it was a lot more tender than the ones they had shared last night but it had the same effect as the previous ones as Claire let out a moan and leaned into the kiss.

But Alas it was over almost as quickly as it had started and Claire found herself staring at him as he took a drink of his coffee- she had to admit she never pegged him for a coffee man, scotch maybe, but seeing him drink something as normal as coffee seemed a little strange and she found herself smiling before turning her attention back to her coffee.

"Where would you like this to go Dear Heart?" he enquired a delicate brow raising.

Claire's mouth suddenly went dry and she licked her lips, she could feel him watching the little appendage and she found herself extending on the action, her skin heating up. Her heart pounded in her chest and she heard a little voice in the back of her mind _gently_ remind her that this was _Wesker _that she was flirting with.

The little voice need not have reminded her as before anything could happen a childish squeal of "Daddy!" and suddenly a blob of blue and yellow was attached to Wesker hugging him for dear life.

"Hello Belle." Claire watched as the tiniest of smiles formed on Wesker's lips. The lips that she had just kissed… she hastily took a sip of her coffee in an attempt to hide her cheeks, which were going red. She paid extra attention to her coffee when she felt him looking at her.

"When did you get here Daddy?" Annabelle asked releasing his neck and opting to sit in his lap.

Claire bit her lip as she thought about when he had gotten there. She wondered what he would tall her however.

"I came here last night Belle." He replied calmly. He adjusted his hold of her so that he could drink some more of his coffee. Something about the sight of Wesker drinking coffee while talking to his daughter was making her feel dizzy.

Annabelle tilted her head in confusion. "Did you come after Mr. Leon left?" Claire had expected him to be angry at the mention of Leon being there, but he merely nodded and acted completely nonchalant about the whole thing, which made Claire wonder if he had known about Leon being there.

"Why didn't you come and see me?" Annabelle tilted her head in confusion.

Wesker let out a silent chuckle and patted her head. "Because you were sleeping, Belle."

Belle smiled in acceptance before she frowned. "But where did you sleep then Daddy?"

Claire choked on her coffee.

Wesker smirked. "Are you well Dear Heart?"

Claire nodded hastily and rose from the couch, she headed towards the kitchen and took out a bowl. "Would you like some wheat bix Belle?" she asked and received a 'Yup Yup' from the girl. "D-Do you want some too Wesker?" she found it strange asking him if he wanted wheat bix, there was something wrong with this picture. If a few months ago someone had told her that not only was she going to sleep with Wesker but she was also going to be offering him wheat bix she probably would have laughed before having the poor bastard sent to the loony bin. But it was actually happening… she felt… dizzy…

When Wesker shook his head Claire went about making the breakfast. When she was finished she took the bowls over and set the on the table before sitting on the couch, Annabelle jumped off her father so she could sit between them. They put the television and sat in a comfortable silence eating their food while watching a show on marine life. If someone were to walk in at that moment they would have been awestruck at how much like a normal family the three looked…

XXX

Elle groaned as she staggered into her apartment, Al was trailing behind her and she glared at how much energy the man seemed to have, then again he hadn't just spent several hours climbing through a government building as well as having to put up with Ada's crap. By the gods did the woman know how to irritate her! She let out a sigh as she plopped onto the couch and glared at the sun that was streaming through the cracks in the blinds.

Al locked the door behind him and then sat down beside her. Once he was on the couch he took his helmet off and dumped it on the floor. He then ran a hand through his hair slicking it back.

Elle watched him carefully her eyes examining him. He looked tired and his body radiated the age that he actually was, even if he didn't look a day over twenty-five. There were little tells that he had, the small creases in his eyes that had formed before he had been infected, it was just his eyes though that told his age, the rest of his body was in its prime and she couldn't help but find herself looking him up and down; that is until she noticed him watching her.

Her cheeks went red as he leaned down to look her in they eyes.

"What are you looking at?"

She smiled weakly. "You, you're very handsome, you know?"

He frowned. "So you've said before." As he moved to get off the sofa Elle all but flung herself on top of him, her legs straddling his waist and her hands holding his face.

"You need to believe me." Her voice was firm.

"Elle I'm literally twice your age."

"I don't care." She shifted her hips and smiled, it seemed he didn't really care either. How long had she wanted this? On a subconscious level she believed that she had wanted this since she was young and had first met him, when he was in the isolation room in Wesker's old base. He had been crying about loosing his sister…

"If you're father were alive Elle he'd-" he let out a small gasp as she shifted her hips down.

"Call me by my name please Alfred."

"S-Sherry this is-" before he could protest any further he found her kissing him, and before he could stop himself he was returning the embrace. He used that moment to pour every emotion, every feeling he had for the woman who was a constant annoyance… the woman he loved…

A/N: TWO chapters in two days, aren't you guys lucky I was home sick today and hit with the inspiration bug =D

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